


Shattered Worlds

by Cluelesse



Series: James and Leila: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Devildom [15]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Amnesia, Destructive Magical Bonds, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Memory Loss, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spoilers Lesson 37-38, Stabbing, Suicide Attempt, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:41:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27539311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cluelesse/pseuds/Cluelesse
Summary: Lucifer collapsed. When he comes to, something about him seems off.What happened to him? And isn't it about bloody time Lord Diavolo starts explaining himself? Yeah, we think so too...
Relationships: Beelzebub (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Beelzebub (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s), Friendship - Relationship, Lucifer (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Lucifer (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s), Romantic - Relationship, Satan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Satan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: James and Leila: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Devildom [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900351
Comments: 22
Kudos: 17





	1. Lucifer, What's Wrong?!

**Author's Note:**

> This part contains spoilers from Lesson 37 and 38
> 
> It doesn't follow the story exactly, but it does in general.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What the hell is going on?!

**Leila POV**

Belphegor and I rush out of the kitchen towards the source of the commotion. Something is happening in the dining room. What's going on? It sound like someone just died! We look at each other worried and Belphegor grabs me firmly around my waist and then he uses his demon speed to get us there faster.

In the dining room, we see everyone crowding around the head of the table. But Lucifer is nowhere in sight. Or wait, someone is lying in the floor! It's Lucifer?

“Lucifer! LUCIFER!” They're all shouting and trying to shake him awake. Asmodeus and James are in tears. The others have all various expressions of worry on their faces. I see Solomon standing on a bit of distance, with a frown of worry on his face.

“Solomon, what happened?!” I demand, my voice a bit higher than usual with worry, as Belphegor joins his brothers and James, kneeling next to Lucifer.

“Leila.” He says with a calm voice. “I have my suspicion, but I don't have time to explain to you right now. As head of this household, you have to make them put Lucifer in bed and calm them down, until I return.”

“Head of the household? What are you talking about?”

“You have pacts with all of them, except Lucifer. And you're the only one not panicking right now. At least not on the outside. I think that qualifies you...” He smiles at me. “I will be back soon with Diavolo and Simeon.” Then he teleports himself away.

Right... Head of the household... Lucifer did say he trusted me the most in delicate situations. Maybe I am the next in line when he is indisposed? I've got to calm this mess down, anyway. I can't let them all fall apart and I don't think it's a good idea to let him stay on the floor like that.

“Mammon!” I command. “Bring Lucifer to his room and put him in his bed. Be careful.” I add with a friendly expression.

Mammon looks at me with a grateful expression. Someone who tells him what to do, that's what he needs right now. When he lifts an unconscious Lucifer up and walks with him to the door, I think about my next command. I see Satan, Beelzebub and Belphegor holding themselves together, even though worried. But Asmodeus and Leviathan need something to do.

“Levi. Could you find a heating pad?” I honestly don't know if we need one, but Leviathan nods eagerly, happy to be useful. “Asmo, could you and James help preparing medication or washcloths? I don't know if we need that, but Solomon will be back soon with Barbatos and the others and I want us to be prepared.”

Asmodeus smiles through his tears and nudges James to come with him. Satan says he's going to research something and that he will see us soon in Lucifers room. Belphegor decides to go with Beelzebub to their room and gather as much comfy blankets and pillows for Lucifer as they can carry together. I guess I let them. It will keep them busy for now.

When I get to Lucifers room, I see Mammon still trying to shake Lucifer awake. He's being loud as ever and he's causing me a headache, so I can imagine it's not very pleasant for an unconscious Lucifer either. Leviathan starts arguing with Mammon. Telling him to stop shaking Lucifer, because he can do damage that way. I have to agree and Mammon stops shaking him and instead starts pacing around the room like a caged animal.  
I've got to make them calm down again...

“So, what happened?” I say with a calm voice as I help Belphegor arrange some pillows.

“He just fell off his chair!” Asmodeus says, much calmer now that he has things to do. “I don't get it. It can't be from Solomons oden, right?”

“No.” I smile as I guide James to lie next to Lucifer on the bed. He smiles grateful at me and snuggles against him. “You're not all being poisoned. I made that with the help of Beel, Belphie and James.” Everyone looks relieved and a bit embarrassed. I guess that's what they were thinking at first. And who can blame them? I mean, Solomon really is a terrible cook.

“But then why is this happening?” Asmodeus gets tears in his eyes again.

Satan says gruffly, when he walks into the room with several medical books under his arm. “Come on, this is Lucifer we're talking about. I'm sure he'll be allright.” Asmodeus looks at him and nods.

“Yeah, Lucifer is tough. I doubt we have to worry.” Beelzebub agrees as he watches Belphegor crawl against James to comfort him.

“You know, he kept mentioning that his head hurt. It started when we were in the Reaper's cave.” Belphegor yawns, making James sleepy on purpose to calm him down even more. “He's always getting headaches, so I didn't think much of it...”

“If the Reaper caused this, then we could have a big problem on our hands.” Satan says frowning. Everyone looks panicked again.

“He got the headaches from all of you breaking the rules. You make him worry too much. It's not because of the Angel of Death.” I tell them sternly, depositing the leftover blankets and pillows near the door. “Contrary of what you all seem to believe, they've been more than fair to you. They accepted my sacrifice and accepted your new punishment. They wouldn't punish Lucifer for things he had nothing to do with.”

They seem to accept that statement from me. They're all still worried, but the more they keep talking about it, the calmer they become. Asmodeus sits on the edge of the bed, softly stroking through Lucifers hair.

“Oy, what happened to Solomon? I'm guessin' he'd have an idea what's goin' on, right?” Mammon asks me, as he finally stops pacing around and sinks down on a sofa.

“He went to get Diavolo, Simeon and the others.” I tell them as I stand behind him and give him a shoulder rub. “He did mention he had a suspicion about what this could be. I think we will find out soon.”

“Urghh... gr...” We all hear Lucifer groan in his sleep, moving restlessly. And we all look at him worried.

“It sounds like he has a lot of pain!” Leviathan starts to panic again. “Leila, what should we do?!”

“I could try this healing spell...” I say. "But last time I used it on his headaches, it didn't work enough. But it might ease the pain. _**May the vestiges of pain that linger within this demon before me be eliminated. I am the one called Leila... Hear my command!**_ ” I cast the spell. I know it probably won't help enough, but if it even helps a little...

“Wait, that's the spell I taught you back when we were cramming for exams.” Satan smiles, standing next to me behind the sofa, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Good job for remembering it.”

“Oh please, I use it all the time. Living in this House with you bunch of idiots.” I tease, sticking out my tongue and he captures it quickly in a kiss.

“Well, it worked. He looks to be in less pain now.” Leviathan says, ignoring all that.

Suddenly a bright light engulfs the entire room and we hear Solomon cheerfully announcing himself. “I'm back! And I brought everyone else with me.” One by one two angels and two demons fall through the portal. “Good job for calming down the situation, Leila.”

“Wh...Whoa, almost I lost my balance there.” Simeon lands right next to Satan and me, breaking us apart, much to Satans displeasure. “Sorry about that. It's been a while since I've teleported.”

“AAAHH... ugh!” Luke lands on his butt on the sofa, but rolls off of it.

“Oh dear...” I see Barbatos lands after Luke on his feet and he helps him up. “Are you allright Luke? You have to be careful when you land.” I can't help but feel the anger flare up when I see him. Satan notices and looks at me curiously.

“Right, yeah... thanks, Barbatos.” Luke says, a little embarrassed.

Then I hear the voice of the demon I really didn't want to see for at least a long while. “Lucifer...! Oh no... What's happened to you?!” Lord Diavolo quickly walks towards the bed and I see James and Belphegor sit up to make space for him, just as I'm about to go to the door to be away.  
But then I hear Diavolo say. “This is all my fault! If only I'd acted sooner!”

“Wait!” I hiss, turning around. All my demons and James look at me with shock, as I stalk back towards Diavolo and poke him in the chest. “This is your fault too, Diavolo?!

Diavolo doesn't kill me right there on the spot for being disrespectful. Instead he looks very guilty. Nothing left from his jovial behaviour. “That's right. It is. Please, Leila... I know you are angry with me, but... You have to help us!”

**James POV**

We've all gone down to the common room to hear why Leila is so furious with Diavolo. And apparently also with Barbatos as she refused to even look at him when he sat by Lucifer to take care of him, together with Luke. She only acts like that for good reasons. So this must be one hell of a reason. It almost makes me forget how worried I am, but I guess my worry just shifted for the moment to someone else I care about.  
When we hear the tale of how we got caught up in the time loop, Leviathan stands next to Leila with a matching expression of rightious fury. I know they love to be in a pact together, but this is NOT how pacts should be forged! They feel used and played with. For what reason?! And not only them. Everyone is angry to hear we had to endure that for ten days. Even if we don't remember it... What else has Diavolo been plotting behind our backs?

“It's going to be allright, Leila.” Belphegor hugs her, blocking her from Diavolo's view. Trying to calm down her fury as Satan looks at Diavolo with ice in his eyes for a change.

“So, Lord Diavolo...” Asmodeus usual warm and musical voice sounds hard and cold. “You're now going to explain what exactly is going on, right?” It's not really a question. More a demand. “And Solomon... I take it you allready know?”

“Naturally.” Solomon confirms, calmly. “Considering that was the whole reason I brought James and Leila here to the Devildom to begin with.”

“What?” Leviathans eyes flash from one to another. Putting our confusion into words. “What are you talking about?”

“Tell us what's going on, so we can make sense of this.” Satan says impatiently. “Enough with the mystery and avoiding telling the truth!”

“Right, yes... Recently, strange phenomena have been taking place here in the Devildom.” Diavolo starts. “Very rare phenomena... Or rather unprecedented. For starters, the royal tomb collapsed. And then a gigantic hole appeared in the primeval forest as well.”

I lock eyes with Leila: this sounds familiar. This is what Shado had told her.

“But even before that happened, I could tell that something just wasn't right.” Diavolo continues. “I sensed something exerting a powerful influence on this world.”

“Like something is attacking the Devildom?” I ask. What has that to do with Leila and me?

Satan looks sceptical. “So, let me get this straight. Solomon immediately sensed something strange happening in the Devildom, so he came back here?”

“And he brought James and Leila along with him for that?” Mammon looks sceptical as well. “Since when do ya care about the Devildom, Solomon?”

“Yeah, You totally must have some other reason for doing this.” Leviathan agrees with his brothers. It's still a strange story.

“You may not realize it, but I've developed a real attachment to the Devildom. Just like James.” Solomon defends himself with dignity. “But Leviathan is right. I do have another reason. The truth is, that these strange phenomena are also happening in the Human World. Ancient ruins collapsing, forests withering, lakes drying up, Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions beneath the ocean... And in all cases, these things happened at very old sites. Places related to the Devildom or Celestial Realm.”

“The same sort of thing has been happening in the Celestial Realm.” Simeon says, as he calmly sips his tea. “Although, so far the damage has been limited to sacred lakes or springs drying up... You remember, right? When James and Leila visited, Michael was called away to investigate.”

I look at Leila again. This is what she thought was going on: Something bad happening to all Three Worlds. But again: what does it have to do with us? I can see from her face that she wants the answer to that question as well.

Belphegor asks the question for us. “So, I understand that this stuff is happening in all Three Worlds and always at ancient sites. But what does it have to do with Solomon bringing Leila here to the Devildom?” He protectively steps in front of her so that he stands between her and Diavolo and Solomon. Okay, figures he's more worried about her than me. I almost would laugh, if the situation wasn't so uncomfortable. She rolls her eyes at his back, for his display of protectiveness, but smiles.

“Well you see, Solomon had a certain hypothesis about what migh be going on.” Diavolo explains. “He brought James back to the Devildom to verify whether it was correct.”

“Pick a name, would ya?!” Mammon yells impatiently. “Who's this about? James or Leila?!” I have to admit as well, this is very confusing.

“Yes, very well.” Diavolo nods. “We believe that James is the one that causes all of this to happen. And that Leila was the one who could put it to a halt.”

Everybody is stunned. Then everybody errupts in loud protests! What the actual hell?!

“What are you talking about?” Now it is Beelzebub that stands protectively in front of me, to shield me from Diavolo. He cracks his knuckles threateningly as he continues. “The royal tomb collapsing, that hole in the forest. You're saying that JAMES did that?! That's crazy! There's no way...”

But before a discussion can break out, we hear Luke tumbling down the stairs and bursting into the common room. “Everyone, quick! Lucifer is awake!”

And that is more important, for the moment. We all follow the little angel back to Lucifers room, where we find him sitting up in his bed, looking very confused.

**Leila POV**

I'm seething inside! Dammit! What is all this nonsense? James causing destruction? Me putting him to a halt? If they think I'm going to hurt James, they're very much mistaken. Who does this future King of the Devildom think he is anyway?! I'm going to take the next portal outta here with James!  
I sigh, knowing James isn't going anywhere for now. Not until he knows for certain that his beloved Lucifer is okay and I guess I can understand his feelings. First things first.

When we all walk into Lucifers room, – all thirteen of us, seriously – he looks up, sitting upright in his bed, with a very confused expression on his face. Something seems off. The Lucifer I have come to know, definitely would have done something about this invasion.

“Oh Lucifer! Lucifer, Lucifeeer!” Asmodeus cries out and thows himself on top of his brother. Who tries to push him away. Okay, but that's pretty normal. “I'm so glad you're not dead!”

James crawls next to Lucifer on the bed and snuggles himself into his side. Lucifer reacts very surprised to that. And that seems strange. The Lucifer I have come to know, would have wrapped his arm around him and given him a kiss. At the least have gotten a smirk on his face.

“Lucifer...?” Diavolo says. Lucifer looks at him, but there is no sign of recognition on his face.

Lucifer looks at all the faces in the room one by one. He doesn't seem to recognize anyone? Don't tell me...

“Um... Is it just me, or does he seem a little... off?” Belphegor whispers to me and I nod.

When his eyes land on me, I can see a change of expression however, so I ask. “Lucifer, are you okay? We've been worried about you... You can talk, right?”

He just sighs, looking at me for help. “...Who are you all, and why are you all staring at me?”


	2. The Truth Reveiled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY some explanation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed this quite a bit to let Leila fit into the original storyline. I hope you like my take on it and I hope it makes sense. :)

Back in the common room, everyone looks defeated. The brothers need to process that their oldest brother has forgotten about them.

“Amnesia... wow.” Leviathan sighs. “I didn't think those things happen outside of anime and manga... I can't believe that Lucifer actually forgot about all of US.”

Yeah... That really is hard to believe... Although, to be honest, knowing this bunch of idiots... Sometimes I wish I could just forget about them too, especially when they're causing the amount of trouble that they have in the past couple days. It makes me chuckle. I'm sorry, I can't help it. The brothers look outraged my way, but then small smiles form on their faces. At least their brother is not off worse, as they all originally thought.

“I can't believe he forgot about me...” James says. And I hold him in my arms as he starts tearing up again. He just can't get a break with his lovers, can he? It's not fair!

“Oh, but hey... This might be just a temporary thing, right?” Leviathan is quick to try cheer up James. Realizing its been tough on him. First everything with Beelzebub. Now Lucifer. “Don't be sad, James. I hate to see you like that.”

“I've put him to sleep again.” Barbatos announces, as he comes into the common room. “Luke is with him. He wanted to keep an eye on him. Saying he was worried.”

“Right.” I stand up. “I'm going to keep Luke company. I much prefer his, over some of the people in this room.”

“Leila. Stay here.” Solomon says calmly as I'm almost at the door. “I understand your anger, because I feel the same way. But right now, we have to put our emotions aside. There is much to discuss.”

I turn around to challenge him. But he isn't fazed. He motions for me to sit. I sigh. He's still my grandfather and my teacher. If he can put his feelings in the matter aside, I have to learn to do so as well. So I sit. The demon brothers look at Solomon with new respect. Usually they can't make me do anything I don't want to. Well, obviously they're not Solomon.

“So, is this thing with Lucifer another phenomena?” I ask and then with a sneer. “And let me guess, this is James fault, too?”

“Ah, that's right. I never got to finish explaining things, did I?” Diavolo looks apologetic to James and me. Okay, for what it's worth, that's something. “You and James both possess tremendous power, Leila. And yes, I'm afraid it has affected Lucifer.”

“I don't get it!” Mammon interrupts. “How could Lucifer losin' his memory be James fault too?! If ya think I'm just gonna take your word on this, You're wrong!”

“I would advise you calm down a little, Mammon.” Barbatos voice sounds threatening and I send him a glare. If anyone is going to be threatening, it's going to be me! He avoids my gaze, however. Coward.

“It's allright Barbatos.” Diavolo sighs. “I should have told my Avatars about this months ago, like you and Solomon advised. Then maybe all of this could have been avoided.”

Barbatos politely nods and then sends me an apologetic look, for the first time. I don't feel like accepting it yet.

“James made a pact with all seven of you, right?” Diavolo starts.

Beelzebub nods. “Sure, but humans make pacts with demons all the time.”

“Indeed they do.” Diavolo says. “But it is different when the human in question is the descendant of an angel. That changes things. And on top of that, James made pacts with every single one of you. All Seven Avatars, all seven brothers of Lilith. Some of the most poweful demons. Famously known as the Seven Rulers of the Devildom. You have to admit, his ties to the Devildom run deep, very deep.”

“That's true. I guess James is pretty special like that.”

“Special doesn't even begin to describe it, actually.” Diavolo tells them. “It's no exaggeration to say that I thought there was no one like James in all the Three Worlds. Until Solomon brought his granddaughter to the Devildom, a few months ago... Like a ray of sunshine she dropped down: A human born as not only a decendant of an angel, but also a direct relative of James and who was born with her magical abilities. Who developed her abilities to almost full potential before she came down here. She was ready.”

“Ugh. Could you make it sound less creepy when you start explaining that more?” I grumble and I see Solomons eyes light up with amusement.

“So in gaming terms, James and Leila are basically like an ultra-rare pull? Oohh...” Leviathan swoons and I giggle. Okay yes, I like that explanation much better. I give him a big smile.

“Yes. I brought her to the Devildom to do exactly what James did. Let her make pacts with all the same demons, so that they would be exactly the same in that regard.” Solomon confirms. “Only this time, the same demons had to come to her, asking for the pact. To counter a special magical effect that James had caused by his eagerness to forge pacts with all of you... To balance it out, in a way.”

“The task was almost completed.” Barbatos says with his solemn face. “If Lucifer had asked you for a pact as well and you accepted him, we wouldn't even have to sit here worrying, right now.”

“Oy! Whaddya mean with task?!” Mammon shouts angrily. “None of us even knew 'bout this! How'd ya expect her to do that task, huh?”

“Yes, I've been trying to tell that to Diavolo as well, but he felt for the longest time that we should let events take it's course. Under the circumstances, you all did very well, but had you known about this...” Solomon sighs exasperated.

“We would have asked her sooner, be more convincing!” The brothers all start shouting and I roll my eyes.

“Most of you would probably be more annoying to me, to be fair.” I say in all honesty and for a moment they're all stunned, before they start snickering. “Not knowing this, might have been for the best. Or it might not have been. There is no way of knowing now. Water under the bridge. So... Since making a pact with Lucifer isn't going to happen any time soon, or maybe never... Now what?”

“Yes... Let's continue. James shares deep bonds with angels, demons and humans alike... All Three Worlds. And now you do too, Leila. Though there's no formal name for it, Solomon and I have been referring to this special connection as the 'Ring'...”

“Like the placement of the soulcandles in the Reaper's cave?” James asks and I look at him surprised. Then I realize he's right and nod. When looking at Solomon I see he agrees but he motions me to keep listening to Diavolo.

“The Ring has allowed James to show glimpses of magical power that could be equal or surpassing that of Solomon. We have seen it in Leila.”

“James? And Leila? Really...? Unbelievable...”

“Yes. If she could make the pact with Lucifer, she would be complete. Able to balance out James power completely through their special connection.” Solomon says, nodding. “Because she allready masters her magical abilities, she can help him to master them as well. Much faster than the usual magical training would take him to learn. She's been doing exactly that. Every time they practiced their enhancement, the Three Worlds temporarely stabilized. A downside of it was however, that each time James powers were extra powerful and volatile afterwards. Causing the collapsed tomb, for example. That happened soon after she awakened his powers for the first time.”

“Yes, that was the day you lost control of yourselves in the amusement park. Their combined powers managed to subdue you. All of you, at the same time.”

“I don't have pacts with all of you, but even if I did, I doubt I would be able to subdue al of you simultaneously.”

“Controlling multiple demons at the same time is extremely difficult, even for a sorcerer like Solomon. It puts a great strain on your body and mind. As you all might have noticed from Leila when she only had pacts with Mammon and Barbatos. Each new pact she forged with you, made her stronger and more like James. I think she could fight a minotaur with ease now, without the exhausting effects.” Diavolo smiles kindly at me and I almost forget that I'm supposed to be angry with him when he does that. Dammit, he really is the king of demons!  
Diavolo continues. “Solomon told me that James special status was connected to the strange phenomena occurring in all the Three Worlds. And when he said that Leila could help put it to a stop, I decided to test out how powerful the both of you really are...”

“Ah, so that is the real reason you decided to subject all the exchange students to a higher standard during the exams?” Simeon speaks for the first time, having been listening very attentative.

Diavolo confirms. “The results showed that Leila is ready and up to almost everything that Solomon is willing to teach her. But it made her so tired, that she needed a weeks rest from school after the exams were over. And even though James still isn't capable of especially powerful magic, I noticed a great improvement, compared to when he was here before on the exchange program. He can properly perform simple spells now and it's doesn't put a strain on his body.”

All our demons look proudly at James, who beams, even under the circumstances. I know it's what he always wanted.

“However, James cannot fully control the power granted by the Ring. The Ring is extremely unstable and dangerous. James has incredible power, but he lacks the experience Leila has. Leila lacks the pacts James has. They needed to grow towards each other. Leila almost made it...

“And you're saying that James lack of experience to control his power is causing the effects on the Worlds and Lucifers current condition?” Satan wants to know. It's still kind of hard to believe.

“The fact that it impacted Lucifer was mere chance and very inconvenient, I might add.” Solomon says with a sigh. “In the future, it's very possible that all of you could be impacted by this in some way. And Diavolo as well.”

“You know?” I say. “I don't think it was chance, Solomon. Today we went inside the Reaper's cave. I held James hand during the first challenge. Keeping our enhancement going and Lucifer, even though tired from not getting a freaking break with his brothers around, was feeling fine. He even joked with me. Only during the second challenge, where we couldn't touch, he started to get more impatient. His headache grew rapidly.”

“That's true.” Solomon nods. “He could barely stand being around us at certain point.”

“Yes, I cast that healing spell on him then, but it only helped half...” I sigh. “Anyway. I think I was allready instinctively protecting all others from harm by that time. I probably thought that out of all of them, Lucifer would need my help the least... I'm sorry...”

“Ugh. There you go again, feeling guilty for things you can do nothing about.” Belphegor says grumpily. “Stop that!”

“Anyway...” I say after an apologetic look towards him. “I think, because my connection with the Ring is almost completed, all my demons are protected from the volatile effects, due to my protective nature...” I look hopeful at Solomon and he thinks.

“That could be.” He nods again. “But it wouldn't be enough to protect the rest of the Three Worlds. Or James.”

“What do you mean?!” I ask alarmed.

“The effects that James is causing will continue to spread, without you being able to stabilize him, Leila.” Diavolo says. “All of this immense magical power, might even end up consuming him.”

“Wait, it might CONSUME James? What does that mean exactly?” Mammon wants to know, but I think he can guess when I see his face.

Solomon answers anyway and I really wish he didn't. “It means that in the worst case scenario, James could end up dead.”

“NO!”

I run to James and envelop us inside my forcefield. Expanding it, so no one can reach us now, I start crying. He hugs me quietly. All our demons stand in a circle around us, unable to get in. Solomon however, walks through my forcefield like it isn't there. I guess I wanted to be with only my family in this moment. He understands and hugs me too.

“This looks like the placement of the candles.” Satan whispers to Belphegor and he nods. Satan continues worried. “Will she let us in again?”

“Leila, there are still other options.” Solomon says with a calm, warm voice. “You don't have to lose James.”

I look at him through my tears. Really? I drop my forcefield and all our demons come to hug us. Even Barbatos gives my shoulder a squeeze in comfort. And I want him to. I think I can forgive him eventually, it wasn't his idea, after all.

“So then.” I say, trying to compose myself again. “What should we do?”

“Thank you for trying to be calm and composed, Leila. It's proof of your inner strength.” Diavolo smiles at me. “Nothing could be more reassuring to me right now.” He starts explaining again. “There are two possible ways to deal with the situation. James, either you gain the ability to control your powers so the Ring no longer causes this erratic effects. Or you sever the Ring, which would turn you back into a regular human.”

“Hold on, is that even possible?”

“Is there another way for him to control his powers, besides me helping him with that?” I ask. I really, really hope there is!”

“Well, that did have our preference, but we also researched other possibilities, in case you were unable to complete your own Ring, Leila.” Diavolo nods. “There is a magical item in existence that could suppress the immense power of the Ring. That item is called the Ring of Light.”

“The Ring of Light?” Simeon asks, surprised. “But that's...”

“Yes, that's one of the Three Rings.” Diavolo confirms Simeons unspoken train of thoughts. “The counterpart of the Ring of Wisdom that Solomon recieved from Michael long ago... That ring belonged to Lucifer, to also give away to a human he thought was worthy of bearing it. That's why Lucifer was also known as the Lightbringer. But he never got the chance to do that, when the ring got lost after he was cast out of the Celestial Realm.”

“Well, I guess that means the Ring of Light isn't an option then...” Belphegor says. “Okay then, what about severing the Ring itself? Is it possible to do something like that?”

“Yes, it is possible.” Diavolo confirms. “It also requires a very special magical. Namely, the Night Dagger. Which belongs to the Reaper.”

“The Night Dagger... That's supposed to have the power to kill even demons.” Belphegor nods, like that's not super alarming news.

“Wait. Does that mean I have to kill my demons?” James asks, alarmed and almost all his demons match his expression.

Diavolo shakes his head. “That shouldn't be necessary. The Night Dagger was being kept in a book entitled The Prison of the Soul. Which Solomon borrowed from the Reaper, when you were visiting them today.”

“Borrowed? Don't you mean, stole?” Belphegor sneers.

I stand up for Solomon. “If he stole it, don't you think he would be punished by the Angel of Death?” Belphegor looks ready to go into an argument with me. He doesn't like it when I choose to support someone else over him. Well, too bad.

But before we can get into a fight, Solomon steps in between us and chuckles amused. “Now, now, kids. Don't argue.” He earns himself a dirty look from Belphegor as he says that and I bite my lip not to giggle. “No need to get caught up in unimportant details. The point is that we have permission to use the Night Dagger.”

“If James severs the Ring, what happens to us and our pacts?” Mammon wants to know.

“Severing the Ring, means severing all the pacts between James and all of you.”

“Without killing anyone right?” James wants to be sure on that and I hug him.

“Nobody needs to be killed. But James, it can be painful for you to break your pacts and you'll revert to the state you were in, when you first came to the Devildom. But the effects you've been having on the Three Worlds should dissipate as well. Lucifer's memory should return.” Diavolo explains. “Mammon, I think you know this, but once a demon's pact is broken, it's permanent. You can't make a pact with the same person twice. Your pacts would be broken and you can never bond with James like that again. That doesn't mean that your relationship has to change... James would still be welcome to visit the Devildom, so don't-”

“I know that, okay?!” Mammon shouts louder than ever. Hurt in his voice and in his eyes. “I know that, but still...” James walks over to him to hug him. All our demons come to hug him too. This is going to be tough on all of them.

“Right... I guess it's not that simple, is it? I apologize...”

While they are having their moment, I motion Solomon and Diavolo over. I have a pretty urgent question. And I don't want to worry anyone even more if I don't have to.  
“Do I need to sever my pacts as well?” I whisper to them a bit worried. “I don't want to sound selfish, but you know... I don't actually have a human life left without them...”

“You don't?” Diavolo asks surprised and worried, looking at Barbatos for confirmation, who nods. “What happened?”

While I'm still thinking about why Diavolo would ask Barbatos what happened, Solomon answers for me. “She made a sacrifice. And to answer your question, Leila. No you don't have to sever your pacts. First of all, you didn't complete your Ring yet. And second, even if you had, you would be powerful and experienced enough to control the powers that come with it. Especially with my guidance.”

I sigh relieved. “I hope James won't hold it against me. He loves his demons and this world more than I do...”

Solomon chuckles. “You may not like this world, Leila. But you love your demons just as much as James does. Or you wouldn't have accepted their pacts. And they all love you back.”

I guess that's true. I look at Barbatos and he smiles at me. Yes, even he cares about me. I need to have a talk about his loyalties with him soon. But now is not the time. Now it's about James. As if he knows what I'm thinking, he nods.

Diavolo decides that we now all have to bite the bullet and continues. “Solomon will be in charge of performing the ceremony to sever the Ring.”

“Hey, whoa.” Mammon appears from the grouphug. “Ya mean you've allready made up your mind to do this? Just like that?”

“There is simply no other way, Mammon.” Diavolo sighs. “Unless Lucifers memory returns and Leila manages to still make a pact with him on her own terms before the ceremony...”

“On my own terms?”

“Yes, like you have been doing all this time, Leila.” Solomon says with a kind voice. “The demons come to you with reasons they want a pact with you. You have to feel those reasons are acceptable. You can't make a pact with a demon who has no memory of you or why he wants a pact with you.”

“Because that would be like it's a forced pact and therefor invalid for completing my Ring.” I nod. I understand.

Diavolo stands before James, sadness in his eyes. “I'm sorry, James.” And then he hugs him. I'm not sure what to think of that. He's been deceiving and tricking me all this time. Maybe he did have good intentions, but I can't help feeling still angry about it. He didn't give James and his demons a fighting chance at all, the way he handled things.

Still James says to him. “There's no need to apologize.” Seriously James... You're too nice...

“I want to apologize. Don't deny me this... Please. I want to apologize to both you and Leila. I'm so, so sorry I didn't tell Lucifer about this sooner. So sorry I tricked you all. I've been disrespectful too the most important people in my life, because I thought I knew better.” Diavolo pulls me into the hug now as well.

I pat him on the back. “I'm sure I can forgive you, eventually. But I'm not ready to accept your apology just yet, Diavolo.” With that said, I wrestle myself out of his hug and go stand next to my demons. They wrap their arms around me. “You hurt James with this. Deeply hurt him in his soul. And he's the most important person in my life. And I'm just not like him. I don't want to be nice to you, right now.”

“And you don't have to.” Solomon says. “If someone oversteps their bounds with you, you don't have to forgive them right away. You deserve to be treated with respect. Being the sorceress that you are and being my granddaughter.” I give him a grateful look and he smiles. Then his face gets serious. “But for now we have to proceed with the ceremony. Handling the Night Dagger properly is no simple task. I need to do a lot of research on the subject before we can proceed. Once that's done, I'll let you know.”

“You don't want my help with that?”

He shakes his head. “I think you're too close to this allready. Your emotions will be too distracting for you.” I sigh. I guess he's not wrong. “You can help by trying to make Lucifer get his memories back. That would still be the ideal solution to all of this...”

A little while later, we all stand outside to say goodbye to our visitors.

“Well, take care, Leila and James.” Diavolo says to us. He still does that staring to me with those golden eyes. Does he still want something from me? Well, I'm done with playing his games. “Take care of Lucifer for me.”

“Good night to you all.” Barbatos says. He holds my hand and he looks into my eyes. I can sense he still respects me. And that he genuinly regrets trapping us in the time loop. I give him a small smile, I think I will forgive him easier.

“We should be going now as well, Luke.” Simeon says. “We can visit them tomorrow again.”

Luke nods. Then pulls James and me aside. “Listen, Leila and James. Lucifer was saying your names in his sleep.”

“He did?” James beams. “So he still remembers me?”

“I think his subconscious mind never forgot anyone.” Luke says. “But his conscious mind is unable to access that at the moment. Try to stay by his side as much as you can, okay? Maybe it will jog his memory...”

James hugs the little angel tightly. “Thank you, Luke. We will try.”


	3. At the Demon Lord's Castle...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very long chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains some spoilers from Hard Mode.

His DDD starts buzzing when they arrived home. It's a message from his young mistress. He sighs, knowing what this will be about.

**Barbatos <> Leila**

> **Leila:** Barbatos.  
> **Leila:** Before I will be ready to forgive you, we need to make things clear between us.

Yes, she is right. There is a lot that needs to be said. Still he is glad to see that she is willing to forgive him.

> **Leila:** I'm sure you are busy, right now. So I will wait until you are ready to answer me.

Always so understanding. Even when he knows she's furious, she still respects his duties. He remembers the day they made the pact. How unsure she was about being worthy of him. Now he feels he is unworthy of her. Unworthy of this very young mistress who seems wise beyond her years. He knew she would grew into someone formidable, but he never knew she would grow so fast.

“My Lord.” Barbatos says, his face solemn as ever. But there is an urgency in his voice. “My young mistress wishes to speak with me. If you don't need my services at the moment-”

He is cut of by Diavolo. “Of course, Barbatos. I understand. Good luck.”

“Thank you, My Lord.”

He walks away and goes to the kitchen. He will bake a cake. Being busy with cooking will help him focus. This is going to be a long chat.

< Ask me anything you need to know, Leila.  
< I'm always at your service.

He chuckles when he presses send. Even if he knows it's true, he can imagine her eye roll at that. And sure enough, there is her response.

> **Leila:** Right. SURE you are.  
> **Leila:** Sorry, that was mean.

He chuckles again. Always the first to apologize. There are a lot of people who can learn from that.

< No need to apologize. I'm sure you feel that my loyalties seem to be divided.

Her response is immediate.

> **Leila:** Yes, actually.  
> **Leila:** I know a demon should not blindly follow the commands of their masters, but I think it's fair to expect loyalty and respect...  
< I respect you and I am loyal to you, Leila.  
< I advised My Lord time and time again.  
> **Leila:** But he wouldn't listen to the advise of his advisor?

He sighs. There she hit the nail on the head. His Lord didn't want to listen to the advise of him and Solomon, because it wasn't the advise he wanted to hear.

> **Leila:** You know that is how wars start in the Human World?  
> **Leila:** Rulers that don't listen to their advisors. Or fire their advisors. Or kill their advisors. All because they don't tell their Masters what they like to hear.

He sighs again. She's right. Again.

> **Leila:** I suppose that chance is slimmer for the Devildom, as it is just one enormous Kingdom.  
> **Leila:** But still, a King who doesn't listen to his advisors is on the path of weakening his own position.  
> **Leila:** I'm not saying they should ALWAYS listen to their advisors, but...  
> **Leila:** Ugh... Dammit, I'm getting off track! Why should I care about Devildom politics!

He laughs. Despite everything, he loves how she is: honest and direct. He should respond to her, before she thinks he's not interested in this conversation.

< But you are correct about everything you said.  
< What is it that you want to know, Leila?  
> **Leila:** I guess... Everything?

He waits, staring at his screen. Everything?

> **Leila:** I mean.  
> **Leila:** Why did you made the pact with me. Really?  
> **Leila:** Could you also sense me making new pacts and all the emotions that came with it?

He chuckles. Yes, he could. But he won't tell her this. To not make her feel embarrassed.

< I made the pact with you because I wanted to, for myself.  
< Like all demons in the Devildom, I'm drawn to your powers. There are no exceptions, Leila.

Should he tell her this? She wanted his honesty...

> **Leila:** Oh.  
> **Leila:** I don't like the idea of that, Barbatos.  
> **Leila:** I mean, I like that YOU were... But all demons?

That idea scares her. He nods. That is understandable after what happened with the Festival and afterwards. It's still good to know she's proud of her pact with him.

< You still have your protectors, Leila. And me. We won't let anyone approach you if you don't want it.  
> **Leila:** Thank you.  
> **Leila:** Barbatos. Were you spying on me for Diavolo?

So she figured that out? It shouldn't be surprising to him anymore.

< Yes, to be truthful. It was convenient for my Lord that this way I could keep track of your progress making your Ring.  
< But if I couldn't respect you, or vice versa, I wouldn't have considered making a pact with you, Leila.  
< You are important to me. Your respect is important to me.  
< I'm very sorry I had to break your trust because of my divided loyalties.

It is quiet for a long time. He can just imagine her face. Thinking about what to do next.

> **Leila:** Would you do it again?  
< No.  
> **Leila:** How can you be sure? Diavolo and I are at odds at the moment, Barbatos.  
> **Leila:** We could be for a while...  
> **Leila:** And he is still your Lord. And I am still your mistress.  
< I allready told my Lord he can't make any requests of me if they are about you, James or Solomon.  
< Not before I have also spoken about it with you.  
< I'm afraid I have been very firm with that.  
> **Leila: (Laughing-Demon sticker)** I can almost imagine it!

That surprises him! She's laughing now?

> **Leila:** Thank you, Barbatos.  
> **Leila:** That is all the loyalty I need from you right now.  
< I'm always at your service, Leila.

It's quiet for a very long time. Long enough for him to finish his cake and decorate it. He's contemplating to either serve it to his Lord or gift it to his young mistress – knowing it would probably be devoured by her demons before she gets a chance to taste –, as his DDD buzzes again.

> **Leila:** Barbatos.  
> **Leila:** I want to know something that I can only ask you.  
< What is that?  
> **Leila:** You know I made a sacrifice, right?

His face pales, remembering. Is it about that?

> **Leila:** I assume you could feel something, when I did. I heard the others scream, when I did.  
> **Leila:** I can't ask the others. I don't want them to relive it. But can you tell me what happened? How did it feel for you, so I know how it felt for them.

He has to find support against the counter again. Just like earlier that day.

> **Leila:** I'm sorry. I know this is maybe a selfish question. You don't have to answer...

No, he has to answer her. He can sense the importance in her question. When he helps her with this, she will have forgiven him. He just has to go through the memory again...

< It felt to us as if you died, Leila.  
> **Leila:** I died?! **(Shocked-Demon sticker)**  
< I thought you did. It felt like that. For a moment. But then the pacts activated and brought you back.  
< It happened in the blink of an eye. But as demons, we felt it strong enough. I lost control of myself for a moment.  
> **Leila:** You? Lost control?

He chuckles.

< For a moment. Long enough to drop what I was holding to steady myself. It hurt in my own soul.  
> **Leila:** Okay... I guess that explains it why they were all screaming. Now I understand better.  
> **Leila:** Sorry I made you go through that...  
> **Leila:** I felt something happening, but it didn't feel painful for me, you know?  
> **Leila:** I just have this sense of loss ever since...  
< You lost your human years. You stopped your human life and started your pact life.  
> **Leila:** Yes, I don't know what that would mean in the long run.  
< Nothing too awful, Leila.  
< It mainly means your age stays like this. You won't grow physically older, until you have run out of your pact years.  
> **Leila:** Oh. **(Surprised-Demon sticker)**  
> **Leila:** I better not let anyone in the Human World know this. There are some crazies living there who want to stay young forever.

He burst out in loud laughter! THAT is what her reaction is to that? Though he supposes she's right about that.

< **(Laughing-Demon sticker)** I'm looking forward to 700 more years of interesting conversations like this with you, Leila.  
> Leila: **(Smiling-Demon sticker)** Me too, Barbatos! Thank you for answering me.

She has forgiven him. He can sense it in his connection with her. Maybe their bond is even stronger now. He sure hopes that is the case.

He decides to look for his Lord after this, but he can't seem to find him anywhere. Until one of the Little D's that serve him runs up to him. He always thought they act so over the top with their emotions. They're quite loud and annoying, but they are amusing to his Lord. So he just sighs as this one is no different today.

“M-Mister Barbatos!” The Little D no. 2 shouts with it's squeaky voice. “I've been looking all over for you Mister Barbatos! Please, you have to come quickly! It's an emergency!”

He holds himself to not give it an eye roll as his young mistress no doubt would have, but instead follows the Little D. Apparently Lord Diavolo is somewhere acting strange. And sure enough, Lord Diavolo is pacing up and down in one of corridors of the Castle. Sighing and worrying. Yes, Lord Diavolo rarely shows his worries to the servants. It does appear strange.

“He's been like this the entire time.” The Little D tells him conspiratorially. “And he keeps pacing up and down the hall...”

“I see.” Barbatos nods. “You can go now. I'll handle things from here.” When the Little D is gone, He approaches his Lord. “My Lord...”

“Barbatos...”

“Care to tell me what might be troubling you? I can allready guess what this is regarding, but even so.”

“I wanted to stay with Lucifer. To see how his condition is progressing...” Lord Diavolo starts.

Barbatos smirks as he says. “Well then, why didn't you?”

“Oh please, Barbatos. You know why.” He shakes his head and sighs. “Because his brothers, James and Leila wouldn't have let me. I don't have the right.”

“Interesting...” Barbatos is still smiling. “I don't remember any one of them mentioning that you don't have the right to visit your friend.”

“Maybe that's just how I feel.” Diavolo nods. “Ughh, if only I'd told Lucifer everything sooner!”

“Indeed, yes...”

“I mean, I never imagined that Lucifer would end up losing his memory...!”

“Most shocking, yes.”

“It's all my fault...” Diavolo wallows in his self-pity. “I made things even worse than they allready were...”

“Yes, very true.”

Diavolo looks at his advisor with big eyes. “You know, you're being awfully cold, Barbatos. Could you at least be on my side somewhat?”

“Once Lucifer regains his memory, you should tell him what you just told me.” Basbatos advises. “But for the time being, however, I suggest we trust his brothers and James and Leila to look after him. The bonds they share have an almost magical way of helping them through tough times.”

“Yeah... You're right. Thank you, Barbatos” Diavolo regains someting of his jovial demeanor again. “You are the demon with the power to look into the future after all. I will trust in your ability.”

“What I said now is based on intuition, my Lord and nothing more.”

“Allright then, I will trust in your advise, Barbatos.” Diavolo gives him a bright smile and Barbatos nods in gratitude. “I asume you don't have a problem with that...”

“I do not object, no.” Barbatos smiles now. “While were on the subject, might I offer an additional piece of advise?” When Diavolo confirms, Barbatos continues. “When Lucifer regains his memory, he will absolutely, most certainly, without a doubt, be angry with you. Possibly more than his brothers or Leila are.”

“Oohh... Yeah...”

“Perhaps you want to consider preparing a small gift for him. That might calm his ire, if only briefly.”

“Barbatos, you are a genius! That's a great idea!” Diavolo nods and starts thinking. “Maybe something for James and Leila as well?”

Barbatos shakes his head. “I'm most certain that a gift for my young mistress won't be enough for her to forgive you.”

“Because?”

“Because what she wants is time. And for her James and her demons to not feel hurt.” Barbatos answers. “She will forgive you eventually, but how things appear right now, it is not certain you will ever gain her trust, my Lord.”

Diavolo sighs. “But I need her trust, Barbatos. She is important for the future of the Devildom and the Three Worlds.”

“Yes, she is.” Barbatos confirms. “That is why I'm glad she has forgiven me.”

With that, he walks away. A smirk on his usual solemn face, while Lord Diavolo stares after him with a confused expression. He won't gain her trust, he knows. Not before his Lord learns some true people skills.


	4. The Memory of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to jog Lucifer's memory

_And in those times of trouble_   
_When you are most alone_   
_The memory of love will bring you home_

_***_

I didn't really want to go back to Lucifer right away. To see his empty stare at me, without the love I'm used to. But Leila said we had to. To be around him as often as possible. And act around him as I would normally do. She thought that was the best method to help Lucifer remember. And also the best method to at least for us two to reconnect. To start something new. 'If he loved you before, he can love you again', she said. I want to believe that.

When we enter Lucifers room, we see Asmodeus snuggled up against Lucifer. With his picture book from the Celestial Realm. Leila motions for me to join them, as she herself takes a seat nearby the bed. Taking out her DDD to chat with Barbatos. She said they need to clear the air. And it is not like she was that close with Lucifer before.

Asmodeus happily motions for me to sit on Lucifers other side. I also snuggle up against him and see that Lucifer looks surprised, but he isn't aversive to it. I smile happily at him and he smiles back, curiously.

“Oh, and this is me having my wings groomed.” Asmodeus beams as he now shows his picture book to the both of us. “You have to admit, I was absolutely stunning as an angel, wasn't I?”

Lucifer sighs, looking at the picture. Obviously not recognizing anything yet.

“So, this is me with all the archangels, doing each others nails. Do you remember that Lucifer?” He continues cheerily. “I now do all of our nails down here in the Devildom, you know?”

He sighs again. “No, I don't remember that. Asmodeus, was it? When I asked you for pictures to jog my memory, I was thinking of pictures other than just you...” He pushes a bit against Asmodeus. “And you don't need to sit up right against me to show some pictures.”

Asmodeues isn't offended. While I'm trying to give Lucifer more space, Asmodeus snuggles up against him even more, pushing him against me again. “Aww, but it's so much more fun this way, right James?”

“Right!” I grin at Lucifer again and he smiles again at me. I think Leila was right. That the love is still there, he just needs reminding.

“Hey, you there.” Lucifer suddenly says gruffly to Leila, who is still chatting furiously with Barbatos on her DDD. “When you visit someone, you could be at least polite. Do something about these two.”

Leila raises her eyebrow at him. “ **You there**? Really? That's what you are going to call me now, Lucifer?”

He looks surprised at her for a moment, then an amused smirk crosses his face. Like he remembers something. Or maybe he just likes it that she's not impressed by him. Could be both. It's definitely how she would act around him normally. I laugh a little.

“Ooh sorry, Leila.” Asmodeues giggles. “It seems that Lucifer has dropped his usual act. So his manner of speaking is rougher than usual.”

“I'll say...” She scoffs. Resuming her typing. Lucifer raises his eyebrow now intrigued and smirks again.

“Lucifer, this is Leila. The person I was telling you about earlier. Remember?” Asmodeus gets up and goes to sit on Leila's armrest, wrapping his arms around her.

“That's the one?” Lucifer smirks and Leila looks up again, now surprised. “The extremely powerful sorceress who's hopelessly in love with you, Asmo?” Hey, is Lucifer calling him Asmo? Yay!

Leila burst out laughing and gives Asmodeus a kiss on his cheek. “That's not quite accurate...”

“Now now, Leila. Don't say that! No need to be shy.” Asmodeus wraps his arms around her tighter and gives her a passionate kiss. Then he says to Lucifer. “Okay, maybe that was a teensy little lie. It's actually me who is hopelessly in love with her. But those are just details, right?”

“Sure. Anyway.” Lucifer shrugs. “Do you have pictures that aren't all about you, Asmo?”

“Ohh... Um, you know? I don't think I do.” Asmodeus is thinking. “I guess Belphie might have some? I'll go ask him.” But before he leaves, he comes to sit next to me on the bed, pulling me in an embrace. “James, I wanted to let you know... Even if our pact will be broken, that won't change the bond we share. You still mean the world to me, you know?”

“I understand, Asmo.” I hug him back. “I will miss the pact, but we will still have our bond.”

“Exactly, that's what I was hoping to hear!” He kisses me on both cheeks. “It's a relief to hear you say that.” And out of the door he goes. Leaving Leila and me alone with Lucifer.

_***_

_And even if you lose yourself_   
_And don't know what to do_   
_The memory of love will see you through_

_***_

“So... Two humans down in the Devildom, living with demons like we're family. How intriguing.” Lucifer starts, mockingly. “Tell me. Leila, was it? The 'extremely powerful sorceress'. How is it that five of us are walking around with donkey ears? Who put that spell on them?”

“Oh, that was Solomon.” She puts her DDD away and walks to the door to let a meowing Shado in. Then she settles herself in the chair again, with the cat on her lap. “Though I was the one who gave him the idea.” She confesses with a triumphant smile.

“Is that so?” Lucifer looks intrigued. “I must have agreed to it, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten away with it, I asume?”

“You agreed to it, Lucifer. You even supported it.” I tell him and he smirks. “But even if not, you let Leila get away with quite a lot, anyway.” I add, grinning.

“I do?” Lucifer looks surprised from Leila to me. “How is that?”

“I think you see her as an equal.” I explain. “She's basicly been acting as the interim head of the household while you were unconscious, and now with your memory loss.”

“It's extremely exhausting, so I want you to remember who you are as fast as possible, Lucifer.” She says dryly, before he can be surprised even more. Instead he lets out a bellowing laughter.

“I see. Seems you two really are accepted as members of the family.” He smiles. “So I assume you can help me with my next question. I have a pretty good feel for who Asmo is at this point. Since he never stopped talking about himself. Could you two tell me more about my other brothers? I'm the oldest, and the second oldest is Mammon, I believe? What is he like?”

“He is a schemer and greedy. But also protective and he has his heart in the right place, for a demon.” Leila answers.

“He would walk through fire for the people he loves.” I add.

“He would.” Leila nods, grinning. “If he has to, he would. Being all grumpy about it, telling you you'd be helpless without The Great Mammon... But he would. No doubt about it.”

“Seems you both love him very much?” He asks and we nod. “What about the third oldest, Levi. What's he like?”

Leila and I take turns to gush over Leviathans adorable nerdiness. Leila tells Lucifer how much she adores him and how proud she is of her recently forged pact with him. She offers to summon Lotan to jog Lucifers memory, but he declines, sensing it was mostly a joke, but still feeling uneasy by that idea, even though he's not sure who or what Lotan is. I tell Lucifer how Leviathan barely acknowleged my existence before my pact with him, but adopted me as his true friend right after making a pact with him. Lucifer smiles, but thinks that it would be hard for him to let Leviathan open up to him. We tell him that he should just try play a game with him, or talk about TSL.

“Allright, what's your impression of Satan?” He asks then and immediately notices Leila starting to beam.

“He's a very learned member of the demon elite.” I tell Lucifer. “Also, he is one of Leila's mates.”

Still looking curiously at Leila's happy blushing face, he responds. “Hmph. So compared to the others, he's fairly normal, then. Her mate, you say? I suppose that makes sense, if he is as intelligent as you say.” He almost says it as if he approves of their relationship all over again and it makes me laugh. He allready feels he has to protect his family that he has forgotten about. That's good, right?

“He can be an idiot, sometimes.” Leila tells him conspiratorially. “It's why he wears donkey ears right now...” She giggles and Lucifer laughs.

“Next would be Asmodeus, the one who was just here...” Lucifer continues. “Apparently he's in love with you as well. How do you feel about him?” He's asking Leila this specifically.

“He's so sweet, creative and cheerful. Being around him makes me feel happy and energized.” Leila says with a bright smile.

“But he is not your mate?” Lucifer asks. “You don't love him back?”

“I don't know.” She shrugs, a little shy. “He wants to be my mate. And I do love him. But Satan and Belphie don't want him to be, and I also doubt he can stay loyal to me. That's what I want from my mates. And I don't want him to go against himself, being the Avatar of Lust. He would resent me, eventually.”

“You want multiple mates, but they can't have multiple?”

“I guess? It kind of just happened when I got here.” She shrugs again. “I know it's hypocrite, but that's how I feel... I guess Asmo is too complicated for me to deal with right now. As a mate.”

“Allright then.” Lucifer accepts that. “Now, on to Beelzebub. What about him?”

“He's kind, strong and has a healthy appetite.” Now it's my turn to beam and Lucifer notices, getting a slight frown on his face.

“I see. So he's a meathead, then.” Lucifer says and I'm shocked to hear something like that from him. I guess he really is less sophisticated right now.

“I wouldn't say that's accurate, Lucifer.” Leila comes to Beelzebubs defense. “I have had good conversations with Beel. He's a great listener. He has given me advise before, good advise. Maybe his Sin gets him in the way sometimes, but outside of that he's amazing. And frankly, you should be more respectful for your brother and James lover.” Lucifer frowns even more as he hears that last part, but decides to ignore it.

“Now, how about the youngest, Belphie? What's he like?”

Leila beams again, or maybe it's more like melting. She never stood a chance against him, the way he acts cute around her. “He's clever, and I can always count on him. And he's so sweet to me and he loves to cuddle...”

Lucifer smiles as he sees her practically swooning over Belphie. “Hmph. Taken a special liking to him, have you? I noticed he didn't have donkey ears. Why is that?”

“Because he wasn't an idiot this time.” Leila simply says. “If he was, he would have gotten them too.” That makes Lucifer laugh again.

“As you can guess he's also one of Leila's mates.” I add, laughing at her blushing beaming face. “And very possessive and protective over her. To the point he forgets he's the Avatar of Sloth, sometimes.” I tease and Leila throws a pillow at me.

“I guess that covers everyone. Sounds like quite the variety of strong and unique personalities.” Lucifer smiles. It seems he is happy with how Leila and I feel about his brothers. “Now what do you two think about me? Tell me about our relationship. What am I to you?”

“When I first came down here, we avoided each other most of the time. You were suspicious of me, being Solomons granddaughter. I was suspicious of you, because I thought you were an evil demon who seduced James. We had a lot of arguments and I think that helped us in our own way to get to know each other better and learn to respect each other.” Leila says, smiling kindly. “I guess we've grown fond of each other over the months. You even said you love me like I am your new sister, today.”

“Is that so?” Lucifer looks pensively at her. “The way you are holding yourself around all these demon males, I suppose I do respect that. It intrigued me the moment I saw you earlier this evening. Maybe you are right.” Now he looks at me, curiously. “What about you, James?”

“Well...” I look at Leila: _Should I tell Lucifer about us?_ She nods encouragingly. “No one is dearer to me, or more important. You and Beel and Leila, Lucifer. You are my whole world.” I bite my lip when I look nervously at him. Will he believe me? Will he laugh and think I'm a dumb human, who fell for a demon?

But he's not! Instead he blushes a little and smiles. “Ah, so you're in love with me, then? Well, I can't say I mind that.” I happily snuggle into his side again when he says that and he starts smiling even bigger. “So how did I feel about you then, James? Were you dear to me as well?” He whispers to me.

“Yes I am.” I say confidently and I see from the corner of my eye that Leila gives me a thumbs up, grinning. She's right. Lucifer needs to know these things. Even if he can't remember them now.

Lucifer gets a triumphant smile on his face, like he used to have when I say such things. He wraps his arms around me and continues to whisper. “In what way, exactly?” Okay... he wants to kiss. No matter if he remembers me from before, he's definitely in love with me now! Yay! So I show him in what way. And he kisses me back like the whole amnesia thing never happened.  
“Was the old me really content with a sweet gentle kiss like that?” He smirks when he's letting me catch my breath. I'm smiling back goofily.

“Okaay then!” We hear Leila say, allready recognizing that expression and knowing she doesn't want to witness what both Lucifer and I want to do next. “Time for me to go. Have fun, you two!”

Two seconds later we hear the door open and close and Lucifer and I are alone. He lays me down and starts kissing me more. I wrap my arms around him and can't help but shiver again, like I always do when he is like that.

_***_

_If I should live forever_   
_And all my dreams come true_   
_My memories of love will be of you_

_***_

“So, who's the better kisser? The old me or the new me?” He asks, smirking.

I roll my eyes. “Like that matters? I'm happy you still love me, even if you don't remember me, Lucifer. But I really would want you to remember me.” I hug him close against me. “Though Leila is right by saying that new memories can be made between us.”

“Yes. I do feel like I know this feeling from before. I do feel like I know everyone. Even if I don't remember them with my mind. I know everyone with my soul.” Lucifer says. “It will make it easier to make those new memories.”

“That's really beautiful, Lucifer. And I know everyone will try to help you with whatever you need with this.”

“Lucifer, I'm coming in.” We suddenly hear Beelzebub knock, and the door opens immediately. “Oh sorry, I didn't realize James was still here with you. I just saw Leila being abducted by Satan to his room, so I figured you both left Lucifers room to sleep.” He continues.

“Did you just say abducted?” Lucifer sounds worried and it makes me happy he allready cares so much for Leila again. He didn't forget everything about everybody! “And you didn't do anything about that?” He looks ready to go out of bed to save her.

“Oh yeah, don't worry.” Beelzebub grins sheepishly. “He does that all the time when he feels she needs 'punishment'. They had a few arguments earlier today and now she's making him wear donkey ears like the rest of us. So he threw her over his shoulder and took her to his room just now.”

Lucifer is not convinced he shouldn't be worried after that explanation. It makes me chuckle. Beelzebub really didn't make it sound better. “To Satan, 'punishing' Leila means he wants to kiss her or have sex with her. Depending on where they are. She won't let him do anything she doesn't want him to.” I explain to Lucifer. “So, don't worry.”

“Yeah, it's their thing, I guess.” Beelzebub grins. “Belphie doesn't like it, but that's because he wants her for himself. She did protest, but it wasn't like she blew Satan across the hallway with one of her spells, so it don't think she wanted a rescue...” He shrugs then smiles at Lucifer, who needs to let that newest information sink in. “Anyway, I thought you might be hungry, Lucifer, so I brought you something to eat. A sandwich and an apple. I'll just leave it here.”

“A sandwich and... an apple, you say?” Lucifer looks to the plate where only the sandwich is visible.

“Oh uh...” Beelzebub blushes and looks all cute and guilty again. “I kind of ate the apple on the way over here. I didn't mean to... It sort of happened.”

Lucifer stares at him and then burst out laughing. “Pfh... Hahaha! I see. You must be Beelzebub, huh? James, your description was spot on.”

“You can just call me Beel. James, what did you tell him about me?”

“I said you're kind, strong and have a healthy appetite.” I tell him smiling.

“Really?” Beelzebub beams. “I'm glad you mentioned something besides my eating habits. Thanks.”

“Why does that keep surprising you, Beel.” I shake my head as I hug him. “Only a few hours ago you made the pact with Leila. Do you think she'd done that if you were anything less than awesome?”

“I guess not.” He scratches behind his donkey ear, a bit embarrassed. “Lucifer, you probably don't remember, but I want to thank you for giving me a portion of your life essence.”

Lucifer looks shocked. “Wait, I offered up a portion of my life essence to you?” I can tell he's very confused as to all what has happened in his life before his amnesia.

“It's fine that you have forgotten. I just want you to know how much it means to me. That someone can offer up their life for me. I will never forget it.” He hugs both me and Lucifer in one of his bearhugs. “So, if you or James or Leila or any one of our brothers is ever going to be in trouble, I'll be there for you. I'll be the one saving you. I promise. So just... just don't die, you two. Okay? Please...” He ends in mumbles and both me and Lucifer start rubbing his back as we feel him shudder with emotion.

“I doubt that a little memory loss will kill me, Beel.” Lucifer says comforting. “Even though I don't know what happened. It sounds like we, as a family, are too close for that to happen.”

“Beel. I'm not going to die. Leila won't let me.” I joke, but I also mean it. “I'll always be right here with you.”

“No, she won't. She didn't let me die either.” I feel him laughing. “The bond we share is about more than just our pact, right James? Even if we sever the pact, we'll still have each other. Always.”  
Beel sighs in our embrace and holds us even tighter. Then suddenly, as if a weight has lifted, he grins at us. “So... Lucifer, time to eat. You still like apples and sandwiches, right?”

“Yes, but you can keep the apple, Beel” Lucifer smirks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: Perhaps Love  
> Artist: John Denver


	5. Napping and Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just need to relax.

**Leila POV**

It didn't help me, telling Satan I was supposed to meet with Belphegor in my room. He just threw me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes to have this discussion he promised me. In his room. In his bed.

“If Belphie wants to have you now, he should be less lazy about it.” Satan smirks after he had thrown me on his bed not so gently. I complain about that un-gentlemanly behaviour, but he just undresses himself quickly and lays on top of me, kissing me to shut me up. “Though I doubt he will come and take you out of my bed, Leila. So face it: You're mine, tonight.”

“Ugh, fiiine.” I mumble, pretending I don't have any choice. I teasingly stroke one of his ears. “You're still not getting rid of these yet.”

“Careful, Leila.” He blushes and lets out one of his soft growls. The kind he always lets out when he starts to get excited. He moves his hands under my clothes, making quick work of removing them. “Tease me more and I'll punish you more...”

“Don't wear yourself out.” I tease again, sticking out my tongue and I tug on both his donkey ears a bit firmer.

Now he growls for real. He takes my hands and pins them on both sides of my head, so I can't tease his ears anymore. Eyes burning with passion he says. “You're asking for it now...”

I giggle and press him against me with my legs, and kiss him back with the same passion. Feels like this time he's going to take his time, to prove he's not so easily worn out. I didn't think he would be, but teasing him is fun.

The next morning, I recieve a text from James.

**Leila <> James**

> **James:** So, I texted Lucifer asking where he was...  
> **James:** And he asked me to rescue him from the attic?

Huh? How did he end up in the attic? And what does he need rescuing from?

< **(Confused-Demon sticker)**  
> **James:** Yeah, I thought that was weird too.  
< I will come with you. Maybe he got caught by one of my booby-traps.  
< Let me just free myself from Satans grip of death...  
> **James: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
< I'm not kidding! When these demons sleep, they completely immobilise me.  
> **James:** I know all about it. See you soon!

It took some effort. I'm not often staying overnight with Satan because, like a cat, he likes to have his space. For whatever that's worth in this cluttered room. But if he takes me to bed like that, he won't let me go until morning. Then Satan really wants to keep me in his arms until he wakes up. Sooner waking up, than letting me go. That would mean that James has to wait longer. So instead I whisper a command to let me go and keep sleeping. He grumbles, turns around and continues sleeping. Nice, that worked. I have to remember that for the future.

When James and I enter my room, we see Lucifer there. Sitting on my bed with his back against the headboard. His legs – with shoes! – stretched out over my blankets. Belphegor has both of his arms wrapped around him and lies there with his head on Lucifers lap. Softly snoring. Lucifer gently strokes through his hair.

Lucifer looks relieved as he sees us entering my room. “James, Leila... You're here. Please, I'm begging you. Do something about him for me.” He whispers to us.

“Why are you here, Lucifer?” I want to know first. I immediately start taking of his shoes. I can't have that, on my bed. Belphegors quiet snoring momentarely stops when he hears my voice. Is he waking up? But no, he starts snoring again.

“He fell asleep with his head in my lap and now he won't move. I've tried to wake him, but nothing works.” He explains. “Why are you taking off my shoes, Leila?”

“Because they're on my bed, obviously.” I answer him, to which he looks surprised.

“This is your room? I apologize, I didn't realize that.” Lucifer whispers, explaining further. “Unbelievable... I never meant for this to happen. I was exploring the House, hoping I might remember something. When I came up here, I found Belphie asleep. He looked so peaceful, that I decided to sit with him for a bit and watch him sleep. But then he sort of halfway woke up and put his head on my lap, wrapped his arms around me and fell asleep again.” He sighs, defeated. “And ever since, I've been stuck here like this. Unable to move.”

I grin. That does sound like Belphegor. The question is if he really did that unconsciously or not. We will find out soon enough... Belphegor has different types of sleep. With one of them, he is very much aware of his surroundings, even though he really is asleep.

“Why not just let him sleep?” James asks as he sits next to Lucifer on my bed, taking off his shoes, then snuggling against him. “It's still early and Diavolo said we don't have to go to school as long as you are having memory loss. So we all could help you.”

“That was my first thought, actually. But my legs are beginning to feel numb.” Lucifer says with a sigh.

I take out my DDD. I need a picture of this! “You guys look kind of cute...” I tell them and I see a tiny smile appear on Belphegors face. Now I know for sure he hears my voice...

“Cute? Are you referring to Belphie? Or me? Hey, are you trying to take a picture of this right now?” He asks, as James lays his head on his shoulder and grins into my camera. “Stop that!”

“All of you are cute, right now” I say, as I snap my picture with a grin. “That's why I need a picture of this.”

Then I crawl onto my bed as well and sit cross-legged next to my lazy demon, gently coaxing him off of Lucifers legs. It doesn't work so well, as he just holds his arms tighter around him, moving his head only a little. For now it seems that he is determined to stay like this. But Lucifer still sighs with relief. Sounds like the bloodflow is returning in his legs. Lucifer starts gently stroking through Belphegors hair again and I can see he enjoys it in his sleep. I decide to leave it for now. It's peaceful and that is something Lucifer can use.

“In the past there were times when I'd watch Belphie sleeping just like now.” Lucifer says absentmindedly and I look surprised to James! He remembers that? James beams. “And though I can't recall any specific memories to back this up... I have this feeling... Like I used to want to keep him safe.”

The soft snoring stops for a moment, when he says that. I bend over to him and gently nudge Belphegor. “Belphie? Are you awake?”

But he resumes snoring. Instead of waking up, he pulls me next to him. So that suddenly I'm also with my head on Lucifers legs! Belphegor holds me firmly down and against him, nuzzling his face in my neck, mumbling. “Hmm... Leila... I love you...”

I look up with big eyes to the faces of James and Lucifer above me. “Sorry!” I whisper. James is snickering and I can see that Lucifer has trouble to keep himself from grinning as well.

“Well then, maybe we should just go ahead and nap with him? All four of us together.” He says.

I see Belphegor smile in his sleep as he hears that. While Lucifer is manouvering himself into a more comfortable lying position on my bed, Belphegor now let me coax him into laying against Lucifers side. Head against his chest as Lucifer wraps one arm around James and one around Belphegor.

“You're a brat.” I whisper into Belphegors ear, giving him a tiny kiss in the proces and I see him smirk for a second. This is just what he wanted, I bet. Manipulating people even in his sleep. I snuggle against his back and be the big spoon for him, for a change.

**James POV**

It's hours later when I wake up.  
Belphegor must have noticed some time during his nap that his Leila is lying next to him and has turned to wrap himself around her.  
Lucifer must have taken the opportunity to quietly slip away, letting us sleep.  
I decide to relax a bit more. These two are so peaceful together when they sleep, you'd almost forget how much power they have. They make me feel relaxed as well.  
I'm lying on my back, folding my hands under my head. Thinking about all the things that had happened, lately. Leila had said that life in the Devildom is like riding a rollercoaster without a stoppoint. That this place thrives on insanity. And no matter how much I love it down here with my, no our demons, she is kind of right. This time around, one insane thing after the other happened. And now I even have to sever my pacts or all the Worlds will shatter. It's an easy choice to make, still it feels impossible. I know it will hurt. Physically and mentally. Maybe I can never return to this crazy world. Maybe I'll never see them in person again.

“I'll always be grateful you have forgiven me, James.” I suddenly hear Belphegor mumble. When I look at him, I see his face is still burried in Leila's neck. Some of her long hair draped over his face. He looks like he's still sleeping, but he continues. “You will always be my brother. We'll find a way to make it work.” I smile.

“Sure.” I roll towards him and hug him. “When Leila knows how to summon across Worlds. Or when she has learned how to teleport...”

He grumbles something. It sounds as confirmation. “I'm selfish, James.” He says. “I'm glad that I won't also lose my pact with her... I don't know if I can stand losing her.”

I chuckle. “That's a perfectly human reaction, Belphie.” He's offended when I say that, letting out a low rumbling demonic growl and Leila complains in her sleep about the sudden vibrations in her neck. “Don't wake her yet, I'd like to have this talk with you.”

“I can't talk with you when she's awake?” He asks. But he still let her fall asleep again.

“No, you can't.” I tell him grinning, as I sit up against the headboard. He lies on his back now and looks up to me through his bedhair. Leila turns to snuggle against him, looking for his warmth. He gets a rare goofy smile on his face when she does. “You're too in love with her. You'd be too distracted.”

He grins. “Fair enough.”

“Leila is determined to make Lucifer get his memory back.” I say. “Only then she can complete her Ring. I'm not sure I want that, Belphie.”

“Because it could be too much for her to help you with yours?” He asks and I nod. “Yeah, I was thinking that too. The theory is good. She really is powerful. She can definitely handle her own Ring. But trying to stabilize two? With you still being inexperienced?” He sighs.

“Exactly. She sometimes does these things that are dangerous, for the sake of others. I can't ask that from her.” I say. “Still. Solomon wouldn't risk her life, if he wasn't sure about it.”

“Right.” He confirms. “He's a weird human, but he loves her. He wants her by his side forever.”

“Basically like everyone who knows her.” I laugh. “You can't help but love her.”

“You two have that in common, James. You know that.” He says a bit gruffly. It's strange to hear Belphegor say that. Only sometimes he can be this honest. I run my hand through his bedhair and he blushes and grins.  
Then, as if deciding that we talked enough, he turns to wrap himself around Leila again. Actively trying to wake her up by kissing her and running his hands over her body. She complains again in her sleep. “You might want to leave now, James. Satan didn't let her be with me last night, so I have some catching up to do...”

I chuckle and get up lazily. “You're a brat.” I tell him.

“Yeah, yeah. I hear that all the time.” He shrugs unconcerned, now lying half over Leila. Kissing insistantly and allready with his hands under her clothes. She's waking up fast now, kissing him back, while still complaining. “Wake up, Leila. You have to make it up to me for not being here, last night.”

Okay, I better get out of here! Laughing, I close the door behind me while I hear Leila whine that she is still sleepy and Belphegor telling her that's too bad for her, because he is not.

I meet Mammon when I go downstairs. He was looking for either Leila or me, so now that he had found me he is happy. We decide to see if Leviathan feels like gaming with us.

“I've gotta say, though. I cant believe that Lucifer of all demons lost his memory.” Mammon shakes his head.

I agree. “Yeah, it feels unreal...”

“Y'know, I guess it also means that he has forgotten about all the times he punished me.” Mammon grins a little, rubbing his hands together. “I have a clean slate! I can do whatever I want and he won't punish me, right?”

“Don't count on it, Mammon.” I tell him. “Leila is convinced that Lucifer is perfectly capable of making new memories.”

But Mammon barely listens. “I can sneak in his private study and help myself to some treasures...” I roll my eyes. Boy, is he in for some punishment when Lucifer finds out, memory loss or not...

“It won't end well...”

“... Aww, yeah!” Mammon isn't listening. “First we game the night away with Levi. And then around dawn I can make my move...” I shrug, shaking my head. I guess if he really wants to dig his own grave... “Hey look. There in front of Levi's door. That's Lucifer! Heeey Lucifer, whatcha doin' here?”

Lucifer looks sad and confused as he stand outside of Leviathans room. “I can't get in... He's asking for a password. Of course I don't remember that...”

“Oh yeah, Levi has a password for entering his room.” I nod. “I think he likes it that you finally are forced to remember it.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I mean, the old Lucifer... Let's just say, Levi would't let him stand outside of his room. But, I like it that you want to try get to know him like he would want to. Thanks, Lucifer.”

“Sure...” He says, smiling. “But how do we get in?”

“Ugh, that jerk...” Mammon says impatiently and starts banging on Leviathans door. “Oy Levi! The Lord of Fools is super rich and handsome! Now, open up!”

“Bzzt! Wrong.” Is the answer to that and Mammon looks ready to break down the door.

“The second lord...” I start.

“...attempted to steal the Lord of Corruption's platypus, which could lay golden eggs...” We hear Leviathans excited voice through the door.

“Having incurred the wrath of the Lord of Corruption for this misdeed...” I continue.

“...it was ordered that the second lord would be forever dubbed 'The Lord of Fools'... Secret phrase verified. You may enter.” We hear Leviathans happily say and I smile.

“Now, do you think you can remember that, Lucifer?” I ask him cheekily.

He looks surprised then smirks. “Impressive. Do you actually submit yourself to that every time you come here?”

“Well actually.” I shrug. “Levi doesn't bother with that with Leila and me anymore. Since he knows we know his password. It's just because you and Mammon were here.”

“Yeah, James is kinda my keycard for Levi's room.” Mammon says loudly as he saunters into the room like he owns the place. “...'course I still have my lockpicking tools...” He looks around and sees Lucifers raised eyebrows and Leviathans scowl. “For y'know... emergencies!”

“So, do you often get together at this our to play games?” Lucifer asks his brothers interested.

Mammon nods, installing himself with a controller. “Pretty often, yeah. Sometimes Beel joins us, if we bring enough snacks.”

“Yeah, but never in my room.” Leviathan answers. “Not after that time I didn't allow him access to my fridge and he started chewing on my figurines.” We all laugh at Leviathans indignant face.

“I want to play too.” Lucifer drops a bomb and Leviathan almost falls off his chair.

“Wha?!”

“Y-You want to play games with us?! Really?!”

Lucifer looks sad by that reaction. “Is that a problem? I mean, you do that all the time, playing with four people, right?”

“Of course it's not a problem, right guys? We just never saw you showing any interest in playing with us before.”

“Yeah we were just a bit surprised.” Leviathan grins and pulls Lucifer behind his screen, putting a controller in his hands. “But this is going to be fun! We're going to play this one today: 'Super Smash Devils'. What do you think?” He excitedly starts explaining the game to Lucifer.

“So I choose a character from one of these?” Lucifer smiles, scrolling through the options, getting himself familiar with the controller. “Oh, I'll go with this one. It looks funny.”

“Huh?” Leviathan looks with pity at the character. “Slimy the Devildom Slug? Are you sure? That's so not a 'Lucifer choice'...”

“Bahahaha! Ya picked a total throwaway character!”

We start playing and Lucifer gets completely into the game. Focussed and red faced. Yelling and cursing. We all look at each other like it's the apocalypse, seeing him like that. But we're having fun together. Lucifer is fun to game with, who would have thought?

“I'm super impressed Lucifer!” Leviathan grins brightly. “I wasn't sure you could keep up with that character, but you got the hang of it in no-time. Even with amnesia, you're still you, huh?”

“Whatever, Let's just move to the next stage.” Lucifer beams. “I'm having fun and I'm not quitting until I have beaten you, Levi.”

“R-Really?!” Levi beams. “Oh woooow!!”

Mammon starts a discussion with Lucifer that he first needs to beat him, The Great Mammon and Leviathan rolls his eyes at him. He takes me seperate for a moment.

“Listen, James... I want you to know that even when were not bound by a pact, were still going to game together.” He looks at me with a genuine expression of sorrow and determination. “There are ways to make Devildom tech work in the Human World and vice versa. I'm going to research it, so we can always play together. Always. I'm not giving up on my human gaming buddy!”

“Thank you Levi!” I grin at him gratefully. “That would be awesome. I never want to stop gaming together!”

“YEEEESS! Yes! Yes! YES!!”

“Whoa! Give me some warning before you shout at the top of your lungs, Levi!” Lucifer complains, startled. “You made me fall right off the ledge here! James, what did you say to him?!”

We all laugh at that. Lucifer acting like a nerd for losing a level. Who would have thought?


	6. High Stakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mammon challenges Lucifer to a cardgame.

**James POV**

It's a couple days later. Two days before the scheduled ceremony to sever my Ring. We did see some progress in Lucifer getting his memory back. But they're just flashes. Feelings. Nothing concrete, yet. It's frustrating Leila more than me. She really wants me to keep my demons. I'm allready happy that Lucifer still loves me in his soul and that memory loss didn't change that. Happy that all the guys told me I'm their human forever, with or without pacts with them.  
I feel theres no point fighting the inevitable. But Leila won't give up on me. I admire that. It's also what I need. Her determination makes me not giving up as well. I've always been too nice, she says. Now she's giving me a bit of tough love. 'We're not giving up until the moment of the ceremony, James'. It sparks hope in me. In my demons as well. Everyone tries their best to help Lucifer.

Like Satan, for example. “Don't do this, Lucifer. This is a bad idea.”

“But he invited me. I can't just decide not to go.”

Leila and I had walked up the stairs in the portrait gallery to go hang out in her room, when we see Satan and Lucifer discussing something. Satan looks worried. It looks like a whole new side of him: Not trying to insult or annoy Lucifer any way he can, but have an adult conversation with him. Leila beams proudly when she sees it.

“You don't have to worry about being rude to him.” Satan impatiently says. “He's not worth it.”

“Hey guys.” I say when we reached them. “What are you talking about?”

“Who is not worth what?” Leila asks Satan curiously.

Satan smiles. “Ah, perfect timing. I'm glad you're here James. I need you to back me up and talk some sense into Lucifer.”

“Mammon invited me over to play cards.”

“Right. And I was just telling him that Mammon will try to scam him, so there is no need for him to go.”

“He will definitely try to scam you, Lucifer.” I agree with Satan.

Lucifer just smirks. “I allready told him I'd be there.”

“He'll rob you of every last cent you have and then some!” Satan starts to grow angry, so Leila holds his hand, calming him.

“It's really sweet that you're worried about Lucifer.” She whispers to him and he starts to blush.

“Just so we're clear, Lucifer is not the only one I'm concerned about, okay?” He tells her sternly and she laughs. “I'm worried about James too. And you, Leila. I don't know what will happen once we have severed the Ring. I want you to be happy. But I fear you won't be happy, if James becomes unhappy.”  
He wraps his arms around her and she nods sadly, giving him a kiss on his cheek. Then Satan rubs my head in a rough but friendly way, messing up my hair. “Maybe you should accompany Lucifer, James. If you're there, Mammon probably won't try to cheat. Take care of Lucifer for me, okay?”

“Oh, but James and I were going to...” Leila starts.

Satan grabs her hand and drags her with him to the library. “You and I are going to do research, Leila. Maybe there's still something we can find that can help us.”

Lucifer and I look after them as they disappear.

“She's always busy.” Lucifer states. “Everyone keeps her busy...”

“Yeah...” I confirm. “You used to reign them in when they took too much of her time. Making them let her rest some.”

“Hm...” Lucifer thinks, rubbing his chin as we walk to Mammons room together. “Does she need a lot of rest?”

“Not as much as before.” I tell him. “Having pacts with all of your brothers helped her a lot. But yes, she still needs rest, like you may have noticed that time we napped with Belphie.” I look up to him and see him nod. “She wants to help you remember and so does everyone. So nobody is thinking about giving her rest. Apart from Belphie I guess, but you know...” I chuckle.

“I'll see what I can do...” He just says and then knocks on Mammons door.

“Heeey there! Good to see ya! How 'bout that, I didn't expect two guests tonight!” Mammon welcomes us with enthousiasm. Oh yeah, he's definitely after something... “Hehehe, I was really lookin' forward to takin' al your money Lucifer, but I didn't expect you to bring me James as a bonus. Nice.”

“Excuse me, Mammon.” I roll my eyes. “I'm in the room and I'm not a prize.”

Mammon just grins at me. Lucifer smirks, saying. “Who is going to be taking money from who, I wonder.”

“Well, well, well, listen to you and your big talk!” He grins some more. “This is going to be fun. Allright then! How about we play 'The Witch and the Black Cat'?”

“I don't know that game.” I say honestly. “But you're not going to take money from me anyway, right Mammon?” I bat my eyes at him, grinning.

He blushes and grumpily says. “What, ya tellin' me ya never heard of it?” Then he starts explaining. “One person plays the witch and the other the villager. Then you both try to take each other's face cards.” Yeah... That explanation does nothing for me. “To win you need to have a good strategy and good luck. Out of all the Devildom games, this is the one I'm best at!” He boasts and then immediately continues. “So, as long as we're doing this, lets talk about stakes. It's no fun if the winner doesn't get something from the loser. Right?”

“I agree.” Lucifer nods.

“I don't have any money.” I shrug. “Leila is the rich one down here in the Devildom.” I see Mammons eyes light up greedily. “Don't even think about it Mammon. I'm not betting with her grimm.”

“Fine. Then, if I win, I get to use Lucifers creditcard as much as I want for one day.” Mammon grins challenging at Lucifer.

“I'd say an hour is more than enough to make someone bankrupt.” I tell him dryly, but instead of feeling insulted, Mammon beams, like that was the best compliment in years. I roll my eyes again and laugh. He's just hopeless.

“I'm fine with your terms, Mammon.” Lucifer nods.

“YES! Now THAT's what I'm talkin' about!”

I just sigh. As long as Mammon doesn't cheat, Lucifer can do as he wants, right?

“However, if I win...” Lucifer crosses his arms challenging now. “... then I get to have James and Leila all to myself for one day.”

“Wha?!” Mammon looks shocked. “James... and Leila? Both?”

“Hmhm.” Lucifer confirms, giving me a smile. “I take it we have a deal?” He sticks out his hand to Mammon for a shake.

“W-Well, you seem confident. You really think you're gonna win?” Mammon wavers for a moment, but then his Greed wins from his worries. He shakes Lucifers hand, confirming the stakes. “Allright, deal!”

Lucifer smirks and takes me apart for a moment. “Sorry that I volunteered you and Leila to be my prize, James. I should have asked your permission first.”

“Yeah... Leila will be pissed at you” I tell him. “Memory loss or not.”

He whispers in my ear. “I'm actually doing this for her. Don't you think a day away from my brothers will give her some rest?” I looks surprised at him and nod. “I'm sure you can explain it to her, later. Once I've won.”

“Okay then, good luck. I allready know I'm gonna lose, since I don't know this game at all.”

**James <> Leila**

< Lucifer claimed us both as a prize, if he wins the cardgame.  
> **Leila: (Angry-Demon sticker)**  
> **Leila:** Tell him he can forget about it!  
< He says he wants to take us out to the Carnival.  
< Without all his brothers.  
< So you can have a relaxing day for once.  
> **Leila:** Really? I guess that's nice of him.  
> **Leila:** Who knows the Carnival brings back some memories for him. **(Smiling-Demon sticker)**  
> **Leila:** Wish him luck.  
< Will do! **(Smiling-Demon sticker)**

“Allright! So, I'm gonna be the witch!” Mammon claims. “Now let's see... for my black cat servant, I'll think I'll choose... The Tusked Knight card! This is gonna be the card that leads me to victory!”

Lucifer doesn't seem to be interested at all, absentmindely nodding and looking around Mammons room curiously. “That car there...”

“Oh yeah! That's my baby... My Demonio 666 Lexura!” Mammon grins proudly as he distributes the cards. “Beautiful, isn't she? And cool too, am I right? Look at that color... Cant help but fall in love, can ya?”

“It really is a nice car, yes.” Lucifer confirms, taking his set of cards in his hand. “Unless I'm mistaken, you bought it from the first money you ever earned here in the Devildom, didn't you?”

“That long ago?” I ask, looking confused at the unfamiliar cards in my hand. “Also, Mammon earned money fair and square? No way that can be true...”

“Oy! Ya better be jokin' James!” Mammon reacts, playing one of his cards. “Why doesn't it look like you're jokin'? Seriously, it's true!”

“Really?” I play a card too, no idea what I'm doing... “That so awesome! I'm proud of you, Mammon!”

“Hold on though! Lucifer... do you remember that?” Mammon looks at his oldest brother with a smile.

“Sometimes I remember glimpses. Nothing very concrete.” Lucifer nods, taking a card from the stack. “So help me with this. It's true that you were a bit of a troublemaker when we came down here, right?”

Mammon blushes, grumbling something and I snicker.

“The color you wanted was limited edition was limited edition, correct? And just a bit too late you earned enough money for it...”

“Right, exactly!” Mammon beams at Lucifer. “But I got lucky, because ya happened to find a dealer who still had one in stock!”

“Oh? Is that what happened?” Lucifer looks confused. Tapping his chin while deciding on which card to play. “I remember going to Diavolo and asking him to arrange for you to get one as a special favor...” He plays a card with a smirk.

“Huh?” Mammon accidently skips his turn. “You asked Diavolo? Seriously? Man, I never knew that. No wonder I got one.”

“That's so great, Mammon.” I'm happy for him. “Hey, can you tell me if I should play this card? Or this one?”

“This one.” Lucifer says to me and then continues to Mammon. “You were determined to buy that car and I wanted to help you. It was rare to see you so set on doing something. It was impressive, Mammon.”

“Aw...” Mammon is blushing after Lucifers genuine compliment. “O-okay, enough about that. Let's keep playin'. Go on, James! You're up next.” Mammon accidently skips another turn.

A short while later, Mammon throws his cards down with a shout. “G'aah! What the... I don't get it! How could I have lost?”

“Mammon was the witch and James was the black cat. I was the villager and the point total shows me finishing on top.” Lucifer beams. While I'm still looking confused to my hand full of cards.

“But ya cheated! Like ya kept smilin' and ya never smile!”

“You can't even smile during this game?” I ask, grinning. “Man, this game is so confusing...” Mammon sends me a dirty look, growling.

“Whether that was part of my plan or not, it doesn't matter. Either way, I won.” Lucifer smirks. “A deal is a deal. I get to have James and Leila to myself all day, tomorrow.”

“DAMMIT...!”

“Well, see you later.” Lucifer says triumphantly goodbye and walks out of the room. “I'm going to my room.”

I want to go to my room as well, but Mammon stops me. “Hey, hold on a second, James. I wanna talk to ya about something.”

“Okay, what's up?”

“Listen, uh... L-like, I want ya to know that even if our pact is severed, it doesn't change the fact that I was your first demon! And I always be! Don't ya forget that!”

“I won't forget that, Mammon.” I hug him.”You will always be the first. The most important one of all.”

“Ya BETTER not forget it, okay?” He hugs me tightly back. Our invisible bond feels even stronger now. “Ya better not...”

**Leila POV**

I'm sitting in the library on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Cozy snuggled up against Satan, both of us reading a book. Shado purring on my lap. Leviathan sits in a chair across from us, playing a game on his phone. Mammon had just barged in and flopped down in another chair. A scowl on his face: He lost the cardgame from Lucifer. Guess I'm going on a 'date'. Satan had frowned at him for disturbing the peace, but since Mammon is not making too much noise, he hasn't snapped at him.

“Hey, about Lucifer...” Leviathan suddenly starts, putting away his phone. “Is it just me, or does he seem a little different since he lost his memory?”

“Yeah... Though he still looks like Lucifer.”

“Of course he does, Mammon.” Satan says, not looking up from his book. “He is Lucifer.”

“Well, I'm a big fan of the change personally!” Mammon grins. “I mean, he doesn't punish me all the time anymore. Life is nice and easy now.”

“I have to admit, he's more mellow than he used to be.” Satan agrees.

“He reminds me of how he was in the Celestial Realm.” Leviathan smiles. “Even the way he talks is similar. He talked rough and rude, but looked so solemn and majestic. You'd never guessed he talked that way.”

“I think we see the real Lucifer now. The Lucifer we're used to is an act, he only pretends to be well-mannered.” Satan now looks up from his book, ready to gossip some more.

“He has to get his memory back.” I say softly, putting my book away. “If not, I can't complete my Ring and James loses all of you...”

Satan wraps his arm around me in support. “Yeah. But we have tried everything allready.” He kisses my temple. “Have you guys noticed the way he's been acting toward Leila?”

“What do you mean?” I frown at him.

Leviathan wants to know as well. “How does he act now?”

“Yeah.” Mammon confirms. “Before his memory loss, those two always clashed.”

“Oh yeah! Fun times!” Leviathan nods grinning. “Like they were fighting for dominance of the family!”

“Hello-o! I'm in the room!” I tell them indignantly. “I never did that.”

I'm being ignored as Mammon continues. “Now he's all mushy and gross and stuff. Like, what's up with that?”

“Excuse me, Mammon?” I ask, but am being ignored some more. Satan quietly laughs at me for being offended.

“I've never seen him act like that with anyone.” Mammon says, angrily throwing something in the fireplace which flares up. “Except James. Now it's like he wants them both.”

“You think he wants Leila as a mate?” Leviathan asks Satan who stiffens, his eyes flash.

“He can't have her.” He answers, holding me tighter against him now. “Never. I sooner share her with Asmo.”

“Seriously, you guys!” I shout now. “I'm in the room! And I can decide for myself, okay?”

All three look at me now, as if they're realising just now that they were gossiping about me as well.

“Well, it's kinda obvious he's lustin' after ya, Leila.” Mammon defends himself. “It's pathetic...”

I huff. “Don't be ridiculous! We just spend more time together so that he might get his memory back.”

Suddenly Mammon gasps. “Uh-oh... Lucifer is takin' James and Leila out somewhere tomorrow. For the whole day.”

Satan narrows his eyes at me as he takes my chin in his hand to make me look at him. “Is that true?”

“Oh, yeah. I didn't tell you yet?” I nod, with a sweet smile at him. He narrows his eyes even more. I see his rage burning under the surface, but I'm not impressed by his jealousy. “Something about winning a prize. I'm sure Mammon can tell you more.”

Satan whips his head aggressively towards Mammon. “What did you do?”

“Yeah, why is this all of a sudden?” Leviathan wants to know as well. “I mean, all of us want to spend personal time with them. But both of them, for a whole day? That never happened before.”

“Well, ya know I challenged Lucifer to a cardgame, thinkin' I could take advantage of him...”

Satan goes to stand in Mammons face furiously. “Don't tell me he took advantage of you instead, with MY mate at stake?!”

“Yeah, kinda... He said that if he won, he wanted to have both James and Leila for himself for one day.”

“And with stakes that high, you LOST?” Leviathan shouts angrily. “What's WRONG with you? What if something happens to them?”

“I wanted to refuse, but we're going to the Carnival.” I smile serenely, petting Shado.

“Where we had our first date? You're going there with him?!” Satan now looks angry at me again. And I see also a lot of worry in his eyes. “He doesn't have a pact with you! He doesn't even really remember you! What if he tries something and you can't stop him?”

“Oh please.” I shrug. “He's crazy about James. I'm just this strange enigma of a human he has feelings of fondness for.” I step towards Satan and hold his hands. “It's not a date, Satan. Because I tell you that it's not.”

“Well, you better bet it's not. Because you're not going!” He growls at me. I roll my eyes at that, which only makes him more angry. But I don't care. Like he can stop me? Suddenly he holds me tight against him, searching my eyes. “Seriously, Leila. Why do you want to go? You don't want him, do you?”

“Of course not, Satan. I'm going, because maybe he remembers something when we're there.” I tell him. Satan sighs relieved. “In case he does, I want to be there. I'm doing this for James. You understand, right?” I look at him pleadingly.

He sighs, nodding. “Yeah, I understand. But I'm going too.”

“No, you're not. Lucifer wants me to have a relaxed day.” I smile cutely at him. “And so I'm not getting dragged into another haunted house by you, Satan.” Then I kiss him. “Please don't make this more difficult than it actually is.”

“I don't like this, Leila.” He growls. “And Belphie will react exactly the same as me, you know that. Hell, even Asmo will.”

“Why don't you all stop worrying? James and I can still command him down to his knees if we need to. For now. For only two more days. Just let me try everything to help you, okay? I really want you guys and James to stay together...”

They all nod defeated. I walk out of the room, thinking I have convinced them. Only to hear from Shado later that night, that they all plan to follow us tomorrow. Just to be absolutely sure. I sigh. They really are a hopeless bunch of idiots.


	7. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the Carnival.  
> There's really not many places to go out in the Devildom, I guess?

**James POV**

“This is so, so, SO not fair!” Asmodeus stands in the entrance hall. Hands on his hips. Blocking the front door. “Do you hear me Lucifer?! It's totally not fair that you get to go out with Leila alone!”

“Hello, I'm here too.” I say dryly as I put on my coat. “Since when are you talking like Levi, Asmo?”

Leila laughs, giving Asmodeus a peck on his cheek. “Asmo, you and I go out all the time, together. What's not fair about it this time?”

Asmodeus face is flushed angrily. He holds her hands in his and kisses them, declaring dramatically. “But we are special together, Sunshine! You don't have that connection with Lucifer, do you?” Suddenly he pulls her in a tight hug. He glares at Lucifer over her shoulder. “He allready has James! He can't have you too!”

I laugh as Leila rolls her eyes at that, to me. I don't think that Leila ever will like Lucifer in that way. They're too much alike. The other brothers all stand around watching as we get ready. They're all brooding. It's apparently really not fair that Lucifer goes out with both their humans for an entire day. Leila and I don't really get what the fuss is. Must be a demon thing.

Lucifer stands there smirking. “If you have a problem with it, talk to Mammon.”

“How could you lose to him, Mammon?!” Asmodeus targets his frustration towards Mammon now. “You idiot!”

“Shaddap! It's not like I wanted to lose, okay!”

Lucifer wraps his arm around my shoulders and holds his other arm out for Leila to link hers with. “Let's go James, Leila.”

“Ugh! It's so not fair!” Asmodeus stomps his foot like a toddler but does step aside. His facial expression, however, is still much the same.

Satan walks up to him and quietly says. “Don't worry, Asmo. We're not leaving him alone with them. Get your coat.” But maybe I misheard that? They're surely don't plan on following us today? Ugh, what am I thinking, of course they are...

Outside of the House gates, Lucifer burst out laughing. “Ahaha! Did you see the look on their faces? I really enjoyed that. They were so jealous of me for getting to go out with the both of you.”

Leila rolls her eyes at him, but she laughs a little. “So now you enjoy making your brothers jealous, Lucifer? Real mature.”

He smirks at her. “You know. I have this feeling that I always wanted to be alone with you. Even before I lost my memory. I wanted you both all for myself.”

“Well... That's kinda accurate.” I tell him. “We're lovers after all and you don't like it all that much to share me.”

“Just like the rest of your family.” Leila adds. “But your feelings for me aren't the same as the ones for James, Lucifer. You know it when your memory is back.”

“Yes. I believe you are right.” He agrees. “But I still like it, to have you to myself, without that noisy bunch swarming around you.”

“They really are loud...”

“And they seem to look up to you, now that I'm not remembering them well.” Lucifer looks curiously at her. “It's fascinating to see powerful demons so infatuated by a simple human magician.”

She glares at him for that insult wrapped in a compliment, but decides not to say anything about it. Then we see Solomon coming towards us. His face serious and worried.

“Hello.” He greets us. “I didn't expect to find you three out here. Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah. If you ask the guys inside, they'll tell you we're out on a date.” Leila tells him and Solomon laughs at that. I bet he can allready imagine the scene.

“Well, it's good for you to go out, Lucifer. It might help bring your memory back.” Solomon nods encouragingly. “I actually came here to talk to James, but it can wait. Where are you going?”

“We're going to Devil's Coast. The Carnival. You know how it might trigger a few memories to come back?” I tell Solomon with a wink and he laughs.

“That's a good idea. I heard it's the final day, before they pack up for the winter. Luke was hoping to go, but then Simeon had to cancel on him. Apparently some urgent business in the Celestial Realm.”

We nod and then he walks towards the House. Probably to talk with Asmodeus. To have a laugh about all their jealousy, knowing him.

“Are you sure we have been here before together?” Lucifer looks around, not recognizing anything. I see that Leila looks disappointed at that. She really hoped for Lucifer to remember something. “I'm sorry. I'm really trying to remember...”

“It's okay.” She sighs. “We can tell you what happened here. Right, James?”

I nod and as we're leisurely walking the Carnival grounds, we tell Lucifer the story of Beelzebubs tantrum and all the other Avatars following his example. How Leila and I learned to combine our powers to bring them all down to their knees.

Lucifer raises his eyebrows as if he can't believe that. “If that really happened, no wonder I don't want to remember it. It sounds embarrassing.” That makes us laugh. I guess he has a point there. “Oh, here's a popcorn stand. Let's all have some.” He continues as if he wants to forget about that story all over again and Leila and I grin.  
“They have three flavors: Devildom, Celestial and Human World. Which one would you like? My treat.”

Leila beams. “I want Celestial!”

“You do?” Lucifer smirks. “Are you sure? It says here: 'Formulated under the supervision of Cupid himself! Enchanted to make that special someone fall in love with you! Just have them try some and voila... True Love!' And of course you're sharing that with us.” He teases her.

“In your dreams.” She huffs. “I have enough people in love with me! It's all for me!” She cradles her bucket with popcorn protectively and pops a kernel in her mouth. She flutters her eyelashes exaggeratedly and swoons. “Hmmm...”

Lucifer and I laugh. “Let me try the Devildom flavor and you try the Human World flavor, Lucifer.” I suggest. “We can trade or share, what do you think?”

“Good idea.” He nods. “Devildom flavor might be too spicy for a human. It contains a lot of purgatory spices. Apparently there's even a chance of actual fire erupting from your mouth. So be careful to not eat too much.”

“Or at least warn me, before you erupt.” Leila says with a mouth full. “So I can take a video from it.” I throw some popcorn at her and she throws some back, grinning.

“What do you say we go into a ride? That one there looks like fun.” Lucifer points towards the ferris wheel and I quietly sigh. I know he doesn't remember, but... Again?

“Sure.” Leila nods. “We can eat our popcorn in peace and quiet.” She walks towards it and then says over her shoulder. “But I'm taking a cabin for my own. I'm not going to be the third wheel to you two lovebirds.”

Lucifer and I snicker as we follow her. A little personal time would be nice. And this way we're not letting her stand on the Carnival grounds on her own. She steps into a cabin and puts a forcefield over it, so that no other demon will disturb her. Lucifer nods approvingly at her and we take the next cabin.

“So you're saying that we rode this the last time we were here?” Lucifer asks, when we're going up. “Just you and me?”

“Multiple times.” I nod. “You couldn't get enough of it.”

“And why was that?” He laughs, as he pulls me close.

I grin. “For kisses, I guess.” And I wrap my arms around his waist to snuggle close. He wraps his arms around me as well and leans his head on top of mine, just like before.

“This does feel familiar.” He agrees pleased. “I truly enjoy myself when we're together. I couldn't ask for a more perfect day.”

“Yeah this is nice.” I agree. “It feels just like before. Strange that it feels new to you.”

“I want to tell you something, James.” He starts. “I'm not sure if the old me ever told you this, but I want to say it. I may have lost my memory, but there's one thing I couldn't be more sure of... James, you're special to me. You're like no one else. Including my brothers or Leila. I love you James, Truly.”

“I know, Lucifer” I say, sighing happily. “I'm glad you haven't forgotten that part. And I love you too.”

“That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I love you... How many times have I told you that?” He wonders. “It doesn't matter. I want to say it more often than my old self. And even then, it would seem it will never be enough. I love you, James. Kiss me.”

And that's what I do...

**Leila POV**

I'm relaxing in my cabin on the ferris wheel. It's nice and quiet after all the hectic events, lately. I realise that I'm really tired and feel a lot of tension again. Lucifer was right to take me away from the House today. No matter what happens tomorrow with the ceremony, I need to be strong and rested to help James with what is to come.

In the next cabin, I see James and Lucifer enjoying themselves allready. I'm glad I opted for my own cabin and avert my eyes to look at the Carnival grounds.  
Wait... Are those guys who I think it is? Yes, that's right: All six of Lucifers brothers are just arriving on the Carnival grounds. Pointing towards the ferris wheel. They've been spying. Ugh... Seriously you guys...

I enchant the speakers in my cabin to listen in on their conversation. If someone is going to spy, it's going to be me! Every speaker they pass by, will make me catch snippets of their conversation. Don't worry, none of the other carnival-goers will notice. It's my enchantment. Attuned to my hearing and their voices. Magic can be awesome like that!

“... Oy, quit shovin' me, Beel!”

I look, and see that Beelzebub indeed seems to be in a hurry to go to the popcorn stand.

“...but I want popcorn too... I'm hungry.”

“Go get some then.” I hear Belphegors disinterested voice. “But make it quick...”

Then I hear Asmodeus melodious voice sing happily. “So we said we wouldn't interfere, right? But here we are, following them to the ferris wheel. And not just one of us, but all six!” He giggles.

“I came here for the limited edition Devil's Coast merchandise, obviously.” Leviathan says. “Not to spy on them.”

“Well... I came here to kill time... I wanted to go to the last day of the Carnival...” Satan defends himself.

“I'm surprised you can say that with a straight face.” Belphegor scoffs. “Since you're always going on about reading is a much better way to spend your time.”

“Okay then, why are you here, Belphie?”

“Me? I'm just tagging along with Beel. He said he had a craving for the Devil's kebabs here...”

“Hmhm. Sure.” Satan says mockingly. “Why don't we just both admit that we don't like it that Leila is here with Lucifer, instead of us?”

Aww, that is pretty cute...

“Fine. I don't like it that she's here with him. This was the place of our first date. She should only come here with us.” I hear Belphegor admit grumpily.

“Hey, did anybody see if Leila got in the same cabin as Lucifer... I only see James...” I duck down when I hear that. They're not going to discover me yet!

“I didn't see it. We should get closer and check.”

“So then we are going into the ferris wheel too.” Belphegor sounds awake now. Probably determined to find me. “Let's split up in pairs.”

They're sitting in a few cabins after Lucifer and James in pairs. From their angle they can see my cabin, but if I'm careful enough, they'll think it's empty. I don't need to see them after all, because my enchantment is still active. I can hear them via the speakers in their cabins. Time for some more eavesdropping!

In the first cabin are sitting Mammon and Leviathan. I always love how they have a love-hate relationship with each other. They're friends. Except for when Mammon can't keep his hands from stealing Levi's valuables.

“Do you see the cabin Lucifer is in?” I hear Leviathan.

Mammon confirms. “Yeah, I see it. We've got a real good view. But I think it's just Lucifer and James in there.”

“Hmf... Look at them riding the ferris wheel together... They're acting like such normies.”

“Well, they ARE normies. Unlike us. Who rides the ferris wheel with his brother...”

Leviathan laughs a little at that, then says. “Hey, um... Do you think Lucifer might be happier now that he lost his memory?”

“Nah, no way.” I hear Mammon say. “Because I can tell that he doesn't like it that he has forgotten about all of us. He still loves us, but doesn't know why.”

Yeah, Mammon is onto something there. I have heard Lucifer mention his old self often in frustration. 'How was I in this or that situation?' His feelings aren't lost, just his memories. Which must be frustrating.

“Gross. It's so weird when you try to be a genuinly caring big brother, Mammon.”

“Whaddya mean gross. Just admit that your big brother Mammon made ya feel a little better!”

“Yeah, yeah...”

See? They're adorable, when they think no one is listening! I giggle and decide to eavesdrop on the next cabin. Satan and Asmodeus are also friends. Well, most of the time. I feel a little guilty that they're arguing so much lately because of me. But it's not like it is my fault, right? I'm not going to ignore one of them, just because they decided to have a competition over me! And they shouldn't ask that of me.

“It's great and all that we can keep an eye on Lucifer from here, but we're hamstrung by the fact that we can't hear what they're saying.” I hear Satan sigh.

I giggle. You should try this enchantment, Satan... It works perfectly. I will tell you all about it later, if you're a good boy.

“I don't see where Leila is...” I hear Asmodeus worried voice. “Is she even here?”

“Yeah, she must be. We saw them walk to the ferris wheel together. She's probably sitting in a different cabin.” Satan sounds relieved. Because I'm not in the same cabin as Lucifer?

“Yeah, but where? There's a whole bunch of empty cabins before the one with Lucifer and James. Maybe she's walking on the Carnival grounds alone? Shouldn't we check?”

“You know she's fine, Asmo. You can sense it through your pact with her.” Satan tries to calm him down. “You really care for her, don't you Asmo?”

“Of course I do! You may not believe me, but I do actually love her!” Asmodeus sounds a bit irritated. “I can't believe you and Belphie are keeping her away from me, after I helped you two get together with her.”

“We would have managed eventually without your help.”

“Suuure!” Asmodeus scoffs. “It would have only taken you a few hundred years more. Leila and I have bonded over shared interests from the beginning, just like you have. And sure, I didn't realize sooner that I loved her just as much as you and Belphie love her. But does that mean I shouldn't get any chance at all, hm?”

“Asmo, it's complicated.” Satan sighs. “If it's true that you make her happy and energized, then I'm not all that much against the idea that you love her. Belphie won't be either. But you know how it is for demon males. We want our mates for ourselves. We don't want to share. And Leila loves us so much that she respects that. We couldn't have done anything against you, if she was a demon. We just made use of the fact that she's human.”

“Ugh! This is so frustrating! I don't want her to be a demon.” Asmodeus complains. “But you better believe that I will become her mate eventually, Satan.”

“Just don't look at us for help. If you really can convince her, then there's not much we can do, other than to accept it. Or lose her. And I'm not going to lose her.” Satan sounds annoyed. “Now stop talking about it.”

“Fine.” I hear a triumphant tone in Asmodeus voice. Then he changes the subject. “You know, I can't help notice that you're nicer to Lucifer now, Satan. Have you finally made it out of your rebellious stage?”

“It's not like I'm trying to be nicer.” Satan says grumpily.

“No... You know... I know you two have a complicated history, but it would be easier on you if you just admitted that you love him...” Asmodeus giggles. “Ooh, listen to me, giving advise! I totally sound like your older brother, right?”

“You may have been brought into the world first, but I was there as part of Lucifer long before you showed up. Being a part of him, I was there looking out at the Celestial Realm through his eyes.” Satans voice starts teasing. “I saw everything, including you. So I'm the older one... and don't you forget it.”

“Whoa, hey! Don't rub my head like that, Satan! You're going to mess up my hair!”

I smile. Sounds like they're still friends, despite their competition.  
Finally I decide to eavesdrop on Beelzebub and Belphegors cabin. At first I only hear a lot of eating noises. Sounds like Beelzebub has gotten his popcorn and is enjoying it very much.

“Nothing beats Devildom flavor.” He munches.

“Just don't eat too much at once and set the cabin on fire, Beel...” Belphegor mumbles. “Can you help me look for Leila? I only see Lucifer and James.”

“Sure.” He munches. “I bet she's in one of the empty looking cabins, though. I'm not worried.”

“Yeah...” I hear a fond tone in Belphegors voice. “She probably spotted us and is hiding now.”

“That's what I'm thinking as well.” Beelzebub agrees. “I wouldn't put it past her if she's even eavesdropping on us. She's just as clever as you, Belphie.”

“You think she's doing that? I don't know any spell for that...”

“Maybe with a Human World spell? I don't know. It just seems like something you or she would do.”

Belphegor snickers. “I would definitely do it, if I knew a spell for it, yeah. Hey, aren't you bothered by Lucifer and James being cozy like that, Beel?”

“A little, yeah.” He admits. “I know James loves me and Lucifer the same, but I don't really need to see them together... I only came here because of you, Belphie.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry I lied about that...”

“It's fine. I get to enjoy some popcorn. I'm really happy for you, Belphie.” Beelzebub munches.

“Hm? What are you talking about?”

“You and Satan get along pretty well these days in your relationship with Leila, right?”

“I guess. We're very different and we we've made some groundrules. So that makes it easier to share. It's still not that I want to. She's still mine.” Belphegor mumbles. “But if she's happy, that's all that matters to me...”

“And you were napping with Lucifer, James and Leila the other day, right?” Beelzebub continues. “Because Lucifer doesn't remember anything that happened between you, you were able to snuggle up to him again.”

“...Spying on people is a bad habit to get into, Beel.” Belphegor sounds shy.

I hear Beelzebub laugh loudly, you can probably hear him without my enchantment! “Aren't we doing just that right now, Belphie? You even said you would use a spell for it, if you knew one!”

“Ugh... Shut up...”

Beelzebub snickers and starts munching his popcorn again.

When my cabin reaches the ground, I motion for Lucifer and James to go another round. They nod happily and I hide myself from view from the other six. When they come out of their cabins, I hear them complain on how lovey-dovey Lucifer and James were the whole time and about their confusion on where I could be. They start debating on where to look for me.  
I sneak up to them from behind and clear my throat.

“You guys really are a bunch of idiots, aren't you?” I ask them and they all practically jump out of their skin. Then they all crush me in a hug. Shouting over each other about how worried they were. I appreciate it, but still ask them. “Seriously though. Trying to spy on us. What did you think would happen?”

“Where were you this whole time?” They want to know.

So I tell them. “I was in the cabin before Lucifer and James. Then I saw you all coming onto the Carnival grounds. So I decided to spy on you in turn.”

“Spy on us?” I see Beelzebub poke his twin in an 'I told you so' gesture and Belphegor grins.

I nod, mysteriously. “My secret. Let's go home, okay? James and Lucifer will come later. I have enough of being the third wheel.”


	8. Whatever it Takes to Keep You Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone gets stabbed!

Lucifer and I didn't stay much longer on the Carnival grounds. Leila had texted me that she had discovered all his brothers spying on us and that she was going home with them. Lucifer had laughed and shaken his head when I told him. 

“Let's go home then too.” He says, after kissing me. “I think it's good that you rest a bit before that ceremony, tomorrow. I really had fun today. I certainly was lucky to beat Mammon with cards.”

“Yeah, I hope that no matter what will happen tomorrow, we will be able to do it again some time, Lucifer.”

When we got home, I see that Solomon is still, – or again? – visiting and talking with Leila in the common room. She has Shado on her lap, like always. Our demons are hanging out all around them as they talk.

“Hey there, James.” Solomon says to me. “I hope you don't mind me waiting until you got back. I really need to talk with you.”

“Is it about the ceremony?” I ask a bit nervous, as I don't see anything left of that mysterious smirk on Solomons face. He looks like he has come to talk about something very serious.

“Yes, it is.” He confirms. “Let's talk about it in your room.”

“I'm coming too.” Leila says and her tone of voice doesn't leave room for discussion. “I will support James until the end and you can't stop me.” She tells her grandfather, as she carries Shado on her shoulder, walking to my room.

Solomon probably senses there's no use arguing with her about it, but he tells the demons to not join us. It's a private matter he wants to discuss.

“There are some things I need to tell you.” Solomon walks to my desk and sits on it, while I lounge on my bed and Leila sits on a chair. “Two things, specifically. I'm afraid it is not a matter of bad news and good news... It's both bad news...”

Leila and I are quietly listening how Solomon explains that the Night Dagger seems to have lost it's original power over the milennia. In it's current state, it won't be able to sever the Ring to save the worlds. He tried to infuse it with his own power, but it wouldn't be enough to restore it's original power.  
Only breaking the pacts with my demons, won't help to counter the destructive effects of the Ring, either. Because severing the Ring will have as result that the pacts will be broken. Breaking them, won't sever the Ring.  
But if we don't do anything, the Ring will continue to be a destructive force on all the Three Worlds. Eventually there will be no way to stop it anymore. It will lead to everyones destruction.

Then he starts telling about the only solution left, to the problem that he could find. Ice runs down my spine as he tells us that the only way to restore the Night Daggers power is for me to thrust it into the body of a powerful demon. So it can absorb their power. 

“I suppose that's how it gained its reputation as the dagger with the power to kill even demons...” He sighs, hanging his head for a moment. But then he looks in my eyes and I see the same determination in his eyes that I have often seen in Leila's. The look that says: Some things just have to be done.

But this time, Leila doesn't seem to be on his side! “Wait, you're talking about killing a demon?” She looks worried as she studies his face, as if she can know exactly who he has in mind. “No. Not him. You can't ask that from James.”

“It has to be him, Leila. It can't be just any lower tier demon. It has to be the Avatar of Pride, Lucifer.”

“What?! I can never do that! There must be another way!” I'm panicking. It's one thing to lose my pacts, it's a whole other thing to kill my demons!

“He is the most powerful of the Seven Rulers of the Devildom. His power will restore the Night Dagger. Then we can use it to sever the Ring...” Solomon continues determined. “I have allready thought of every other possibility, before coming here to tell you this. I wouldn't think of suggesting it, if there was another way.”

“It can't be the only way!” Leila shouts. “There is always another way! Always!”

While she's shouting at Solomon, I think I can hear the brothers gathering outside my door. But I can't think about that now.

“Leila.” Solomon says calmly. He's the teacher again and she's the appentice. “When it comes down to a choice between Lucifer and the entirety of the Three Worlds...” He doesn't continue, but instead turns to me, taking out the Night Dagger from his cloak. It's emitting a faint glow. “Listen carefully, James. You have to act now, before it's too late. You have to take this dagger, hold it as tight as you can and thrust it straight into his chest.”

Suddenly seven demons burst into my room! Shouting over each other and at Solomon. He isn't fazed. He isn't impressed by their threats. He really is a formidable man. I just wish he was wrong on this matter. But as the sorcerer who is named Solomon the Wise, he is probably not wrong about this.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry.” He just says as he speaks to them. “But you see... Just as Diavolo puts the interests of the Devildom above all else, I feel the same about the Human World. Nothing is more important than it's peace and stability. I've spend countless years watching over the people of our world. I have to make sure their lives are secure. Now and in the future. I'm their protector. I'm teaching Leila to be their protector, as well. I wouldn't be telling you this, if I knew of any other way.”  
“Therefore.” His eyes get the same fire as Leila again, and suddenly he casts a strong forcefield around himself, me, Leila and Lucifer. Blocking all the other six demons out. Pushing them away as he expands it, to give us room. This forcefield is cast by a powerful sorcerer that has spend millenia perfecting it. It isn't cast by a young sorceress that casts them on instinct. There is no way to break through it for them. There is no way he will exhaust himself maintaining it. There is nothing they can do, apart from helplessly looking on as Solomon continues. “If I have to sacrifice the life of one demon, to ensure the future of the Human World and my family, then that is what I'll do. Without a moments hesitation.”

“Solomon...” Leila pleads.

“I know, Leila.” He sighs. “I'm risking you getting angry with me. Maybe you two will never forgive me... I can't stand the thought of having you hate me... But, if you keep living, that is more important to me. I have to do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

“Is what you said true?” Lucifer asks him. He doesn't seem to want to attack him for threatening his life. It seems he wants more information.

“Yes...” Solomon nods, looking directly into his eyes. “I'm sorry...”

“Let me talk about this with James.” He says to Leila and Solomon. They nod and go stand apart a little from us. There isn't much room in the forcefield, but they give us as much privacy as they can.

“Don't worry, Lucifer. I'm not going to kill you...”

He ignores that, instead places his hands on my shoulders. “James. I may have lost my memory, but one thing is clear to me. You, Leila and my brothers are still dear to me. That feeling remained. Even now, I still want to protect all of you. And you most of all, James... More than anyone or anything else... So, if my power is what it takes to ensure that you're safe, then take it.”

Everyone starts screaming again outside the forcefield. But Lucifer ignores it.

“I don't want to do it, Lucifer!” I shout. “I love you!”

“Without this blade, it's possible that you all end up hurt, right?” He holds my hand, that holds the Night Dagger Solomon gave me. “So it's okay, James. If it means saving your life, then it's worth it.”  
He holds my hand with both of his now. Pointing the tip of the dagger to himself. I struggle, but he's of course way too strong. “Now, take this dagger, point it at my chest and thrust it forward as hard as you can.”

“No! I can't do that!”

“This situation seems familiar.” Lucifer suddenly says, as if distracting me. And it's true that I feel relieved that he's not trying to stab himself anymore, with the dagger in my hands. “Like I've seen it before... I've seen you holding a dagger like that, looking really upset... Haven't we acted this out before? Like in a play or something?” I stare at him. Is he remembering? I look at Leila and see that she and Solomon are observing Lucifer and me carefully. “In that case, James. You just have to do what you did then. This is no different.”

No, Lucifer doesn't remember. Or he wouldn't have said that I should stab myself. I see Leila's expression turn horrified and she makes a move to step towards us, but Solomon stops her. Because he doesn't know I stabbed myself in the play. He never saw the play, after all...

As she struggles in his embrace, Lucifer grips my hands tighter again. Preparing again to strike himself.

“STAY!” I shout at him, but he just blinks at me.

“You really aren't one to do as you're told, are you James?” He sighs and then he has the nerve to smirk at me! “But you're too upset. You need to be calm and focussed to fully restrain me and you're not.” 

Everything goes fast now. He determinedly guides my hands holding the dagger towards his own chest and I look panicked at Leila for help. All his brothers are screaming as they watch their oldest brother trying to stab himself. Leila blows Solomon off of her with a forcefield of her own and flies forward to jump in between Lucifer and the Night Dagger!

“No! Leila!” I hear Solomon shout in horror. 

She ducks under Lucifers arms and stands in between me and him and Lucifer can't stop himself anymore. Solomon drops his forcefield the moment Leila gets stabbed. Straight through her hand that she had held up with a forcefield to try stop the dagger. The dagger wasn't stopped by it and cuts straight through her magic, through her hand and into her shoulder. There it stops and creates a forcefield of it's own. Around her hand and the dagger. It's stuck there.  
Leila collapses and is caught just in time by Lucifer, before she hits the floor. He carefully lowers her down, quietly checking her vitals as me, Solomon, Satan, Asmodeus and Belphegor crowd around her.

“She's not wounded badly.” Solomon says. “But there is some unfamiliar magic going on with her right now, that keeps her unconscious.”

“Like what?” Satan growls aggressively at him.

“This dagger belonged to the Reaper.” Is all Solomon says and everyone looks shocked at him. “Let's put her on James bed for now.”

Satan nods, lifting her up carefully, to not move the Night Dagger still stuck in her hand and her shoulder. We don't dare to take it out, as long as that strange forcefield holds it in place there. The angle of her arm looks unnatural. Lucifer really used a lot of force to make her get stabbed like that. I shiver. He almost killed himself. He almost killed Leila. If she wasn't much shorter than him, she would have been stabbed in her heart instead of her shoulder.

But I can't even really think about that right now. Because suddenly a bright light engulfs my entire room. “I hope I'm not too late.” We hear Simeons warm calm voice out of nowhere. He appears in front of me and asks what happened when he sees Leila on the bed. We explain it to him and he nods, saying. “You both are really brave, James. Now then, I have a little something for you.” He slips a very old looking ring on my finger.

The moment he does, my vision goes white. 

I'm in bright place. It's quiet. I feel a warm breeze over my skin. It doesn't matter what this place is, it makes me feel safe. I walk around for a while. Blinded by the brightness around me. Still I'm not afraid. But where am I?

“Hello there, James.” I hear a deep, warm voice. It's sounds almost like Lucifers voice, but I know it's not him. I hear the person talking to me sighing. “Here I am, finally getting a chance to talk to you and it has to be in a situation like this... Can you hear me?”

“Yes. Who are you?”

“Ah, that's right. We never actually met, have we? Even though I know a lot about you. I am the archangel Michael.”

“Oh!” Is all I know to say to that. Definitely did not expect that!

The voice chuckles. “Do you remember what happened, just before you ended up here?”

“Yes, Simeon gave me a ring.”

“Indeed he did. He's currently waiting for you to wake up. You see, making contact with a Celestial item like the Ring of Light, will take some adjusting on your human body. Don't worry, it won't take long. But it gives us time to talk. 

“Is that what happened to Leila as well?” I ask hopeful. “Is she okay?”

“Yes. She came in contact with a different kind of Celestial item, however. She's talking to the owner, right now. But this is about you, James. You fought to the bitter end to protect Lucifer... Why?

“I didn't want anyone to get hurt. And I love him...”

“You really are a kind person. I imagine you would do it for anyone, wouldn't you? Just like Leila did, jumping in to help you saving Lucifer. You would do the same, regardless if they're a demon, angel or human... That's truly a wonderful thing.”

“I mean, I guess? Leila always says I'm too nice...”

He chuckles again. “Allright, That's all I needed to hear. I better go ahead and send you back now. It looks like Lucifer and the others are worried about you. James, I pray for your happiness and well-being. From now on, that Ring will serve to protect you.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Considering how much Lucifer and his brothers adore you, I assumed you'd turn out to be a truly wicked person. But it would seem I was worried over nothing. I should have listened to a certain someone better. Seems like even me can learn a thing or two about humanity... Until we meet again, James...”

With that mysterious last comment, I feel myself get carried away from the bright place. My vision becomes darker and darker until I hear voices again.

“James! Are you awake? James!”

I open my eyes and see Lucifers and Beelzebubs faces above me. Their faces look relieved as I recognize them. I lie on my bed, next to Leila. It seems the same thing that happened to her, has happened to me.  
I hug them as they pull me up. But I feel wobbly, so I sit back on the edge of my bed.

“Thank goodness you're awake...”

Simeon says, inspecting me. “Welcome back, James. Looks like you did it... You've made that Ring of Light your own. I assume you talked to Michael about it?”

“Yeah, I did...”

“James!” The demon brothers gather around me as I still sit on the edge of my bed. “Are you allright? Is she allright?”

“Yeah... She should be.” I answer them as I look at my unconscious cousin. “She must be talking to the owner of the Celestial item that she came in contact with. Don't disturb her.”

“Ya mean the Reaper?!” Mammon asks alarmed. “Ya call that bein' okay?”

“Why isn't she waking up?” Belphegor has wrapped himself around her in his familiar way, but it looks like he's holding himself to not start crying. First it was Beelzebub who was in danger and now Leila. The two people that he loves the most. “Are they going to claim her soul?”

“Maybe their talk is just a little longer?” I don't know the answer myself. “I think all we can do right now is wait.

So that's what we do. Satan sits against the headboard. Not taking his eyes off of Leila for even a second as she lies there. He runs a hand through her hair, absentmindedly. I've never seen him being so gentle with her.  
Shado lies on her stomach, softly massaging her with his front paws. It's like he's encouraging her to wake up.  
And of course Belphegor is still wrapped around her. He's hiding his face from everyone. He doesn't want to show anyone how he feels. He doesn't need to, because we know him well enough.  
Asmodeus and I sit on the edge of my bed and the others are all waiting around in my room in silence.

“Oh! Look at that...” Suddenly Asmodeus whispers. He points at the Night Dagger, that was still stabbed through Leila's hand into her shoulder. 

We all look and see the dagger disappearing. Leila's hand, no longer stuck in the unnatural position, balls into a fist and falls to her side. The cuts in her shoulder and her hand disappear together with the dagger. The only visible thing about what happened is the dried up blood, the tore in her clothing by her shoulder and the forcefield still around her hand, which is emitting the same glow the Night Dagger had.

“She's not wounded anymore?” Leviathan asks. “How is that possible? Did she heal herself in her sleep?”

“I don't know if that is a natural ability of hers. It could be possible that it just triggered in her, but I think it is the strange magic I'm still sensing around her, that healed her.” Solomon says. “For obvious reasons, no one is familiar with the Reapers kind of magic. But if it heals her, I feel we can trust that she is safe right now.”

When he says that, we can hear Belphegor let out a relieved sigh. And he's not the only one. Everyone start smiling and talking. Wanting to know what happened to me, while we wait until Leila returns to us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't it a bit anti-climactic that no one got stabbed in the game, after all the hints given?  
> Yeah, I think so too. So I fixed it for you, Hahaha!


	9. I Have Been Waiting to Meet You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little chat with Death, no biggie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fixed the whole "You broke my record, so you gonna die" bit from the game. Because that was just so weird and unnecessary. I think i gave it a good explanation now. I hope you like!

_Some may call it a curse_  
_A life like mine_  
_But others, a blessing_  
_It's certainly a lonely life_  
_But a fulfilling one at best_  
_It's my cross to bear_  
_And I bear it gladly_  
_Someone has to take a stand against evil_  
_Why should it not be me?_

*******

I'm in a dark place. And quiet. And cold. There is no air-flow. But in the distance, I see a warm glow. The glow seems familiar. Like I have seen it before. Have I been here before? In a dark, cold and quiet place with a warm glow in the distance?! I have! Am I in Death's Domain?!

“Don't panic, Leila.” I hear a voice in the dark. Soft, warm, but kind of hollow? It does make me calm down a little, even if I can't see who is speaking to me. “There you go. Come to the light with me, so we can speak with each other.”

“Who are you?” I ask the voice, as I walk to the light. “Where am I?” I ask, to be sure.

“I believe you allready guessed it.” The voice answers me. “But I can tell you anyway. Yes, Leila. You are in my Domain. And yes, Leila. I am what you call the Angel of Death.”

“That's not your name?” I ask curiously, before thinking and I can kick myself for it. Who asks these kind of questions in Deaths Domain? Idiot!

“That is your question, after the confirmation I just gave you?” I hear a strange sound, like laughing. It sounds strange, definitely. But not unpleasant. “Don't you want to know if you're not dead?”

“Oh well...” I'm thinking. “I don't think I am? Souls go either to the Celestial Realm or Devildom, right?”

“That's right. I'm not keeping any actual souls in here. Just the soulcandles to monitor them and keep them safe.”

“Can I ask a question about that?” I ask, I hope I'm not offending them in some way.

“About what?”

“About monitoring the candles and keeping them safe... You see...”

“You want to know why I let Beelzebubs candle burn down?” They ask and I nod.

“It's just... What he did, breaking a record with your music on it... It seems so minor. Extinguishing him for that...

“It seems that way, doesn't it?” They agree. “Leila, you know how it feels when someone touches your soul.” They state, as if they know what Belphegor did. They probably do, so I nod. “The case with that particular record was... In the years it was recorded, a particular nasty coven of human witches was active. They managed to attach a minuscule piece of my soul to that record with their evil magic. Trying to control me. Of course they cursed themselves by doing so and all died after they accomplished it, but the effect remained. When I found out that Lucifer accuired that piece of my soul, trapped in the record, I was more or less okay with the idea that he was keeping it. He has strange tastes in collecting his music, but I suppose he is respectful of his property, so that record would be safe.”

“Until Beel broke it.”

“Yes. Breaking it, was a direct attack on me. It touched my soul, like Belphegor did with you, only much, much worse. It felt like someone cut me with a knife in my stomach and pulled the blade up to my throat. Cutting me in half. The pain was excruciating.”

“Oh my gosh...” I whisper.

“I didn't curse him for breaking the record, however. He cursed himself by his attempt to attack me. Like those witches did when they tried to trap me. Even if it wasn't his intention, he ruined his soul, by attacking me. The only thing that could save him was a true sacrifice...”

I nod. “I understand it better now...”

We have reached the light and the voice says. “Do you want to see me, Leila? If so, I'll walk beside you to your candle.”

I nod. I can't help but being curious. The Angel of Death seems friendly. At least to me. They appear next to me from the darkness. They're tall like all the angels and demons I have met. They're hooded, so I can't see their face. They wear long dark clothing and it seems like they're emitting the quiet cold darkness we've just walked through. They really do look like the Grim Reaper from the stories. But they're not a skeleton. I can see their hands and they look, even though very pale and slender, pretty normal and well-cared for.  
I must have been staring as suddenly they laugh again.

“It's good that you're not afraid of me. Because you don't have to be. I will send you back to your family and friends after we have spoken. You're not dead, but you did something again that could have hurt you.” They sigh. “I knew you would do it, but still it makes me worried for you.”

“You knew I would let myself get stabbed?!”

“I knew you would step in to save others.” They say with a sad friendly voice. “You've done it before. With James. With Beelzebub. Now with Lucifer. It's in your nature. In general, I suppose it's a good character trait. But in your case...”

“I'm doing it too often?” I ask, but I kind of know the answer. “Yeah...”

“Not to worry. Leila.” They say in an almost pleased tone of voice. “It also made you my chosen human. I allready had a suspicion that you would be. Ever since you were younger. I have been monitoring you. I've been looking forward to meeting you in person.”

What does all that mysterious talk even mean? I look at them. I can't see their face, but I know they look back, because I see the glint of their eyes in the lights of the candles. Like they smile at me. I decide to just wait what else they will say to me. They nod and lead me to my candle. Still burning brightly, like sunshine. Next to Solomons and James candles. Surrounded by our demons candles. Nothing has changed. I sigh in relief and the Angel of Death laughs.

“I'm really not that terrible, even if people think I am. I just have my strict rules that need to be respected.” They say. “But you allready knew that, didn't you?” I nod. “Are you familiar with the Three Rings, Leila?”

“Not really.” I answer them honestly. “I know Solomon has one. The Ring of Wisdom. There is one that got lost in the Celestial War. The Ring of Light.” I sigh. “I really wish it wasn't lost. Supposedly it could help James get his volatile powers under control...”

“Oh, but it isn't lost.” They tell me. “You see, just a minute after you let yourself get stabbed, the angel Simeon put the Ring of Light on James finger...”

“Really?” I shout happily. “So James is saved and the Three Worlds as well?” I almost hug them, but then decide that's probably a very weird thing to do. Hugging Death, can you imagine? Pshychiatrists will have a field day! As if they can follow my thought, they chuckle.

“Yes. He is speaking with Michael about it now. Just like I am speaking to you. I want to explain it to you, like Michael probably wouldn't. Maybe it's because I don't often get the chance to speak with someone...” They're quiet for a while as if thinking. “The third ring is named the Ring of Souls. This ring the the most unknown of the three. Mainly because I was the keeper of it, ever since it was made. Three Rings. Representing Wisdom, Light and Souls. Do you know what that means?”

“Um... I guess a being is believed to exist from mind, body and soul? The intelligence, the visible and the heart?”

“Correct. Only not just beings. Everything. The Three Rings were created to balance the Three Worlds. They were given to three angels to give to three humans each of them thought worthy of wearing a Ring. Lucifer was too prideful when he was an angel, however. He was never going to give his ring to a human when he was still an angel. Now that he's a demon and his ring went to James, I think he'll find peace with the idea.” Again that strange laughing sound and I nod and grin. Yeah, probably. “Michael found a worthy human in Solomon to wear the Ring of Wisdom. I have to admit, I did not agree back then. Young Solomon was reckless and often selfish. But maybe that's how he has become so wise and skilled now.”

“Yeah, learn from your mistakes. He tells me all the time.” I nod. “I guess he made a lot, considering...”

“Well... Let's not gossip. I do want to send you back today, and before everyone becomes too worried over you.” They laugh and I laugh with them. “I was given the honor of choosing the human to wear the Ring of Souls. The honor, yes. But it was very hard task. What kind of human would understand truly what it means to have that ring? Tell me Leila. What do you think it means to have the Ring of Souls?”

“Oh! Um... Let me think...” I didn't expect that question and am startled by it. But they let me think it over, as they nod at me. “Considering the meaning: Intuition or Heart, and the meaning of the other Rings: Wisdom for Solomon. Physical and Magical strength for James to control his powers. Maybe it means that the wearer of Ring of Souls work from the heart. Maybe it gives insight on what a person is truly like?”

“Among other things, yes. You can allready sense what a persons character is, yes?”

I nod. “Often I can.”

“Is that why you aren't afraid of me?”

“I suppose...”

“Good. I don't want you to be afraid of me.” They say. “Because I want to give you the ring. And you have to trust me, in order to accept it. The Ring will give you more powers and responsibilities than you allready have. It will strenghten some of your abilities. Just like the other two Rings do for Solomon and James. It may seem overwhelming. But you have to trust yourself. Because you are the only soul I have ever met who is worthy of them.”

“I will trust you.” I say softly. I'm not sure what I should expect, but I will trust them. “And I will trust myself.”

They nod. “Good. When you wake up, you will allready have the Ring in your possession. It was melded into the Night Dagger. The book the dagger was hidden in was named The Prison of The Soul for a reason.” They chuckle. “Me saying that I'm giving the Ring to you, made the dagger disappear, leaving just the Ring in your hand. Trust it and put it on your finger.”

“Why did you choose me?”

“Isn't it obvious? You are the only person who can know someones true self. You call it the angel cores. The souls of your demons. Yes, they're demons now, but they used to be angels. All of them, including Satan, because he was once one with Lucifer. Their souls didn't truly change. Their body and minds did. And you were able to look beyond that, to find their soul. I don't know anyone, no angel, demon or human other than you, who can do that and bring it to the surface. I'm the only other one who knew. Because I can know their souls as well.” They gesture to the candles again. “I'm sorry I had to test you a few times, Leila. Giving this Ring away was a great responsibility. Wearing it, will be as well.”

“It's so confusing. I don't know what to expect...”

“Leila, wearing the Ring of Souls, you do that with your heart.” They explain. “The decisions you make come from your soul. You know that. You said it yourself. So you don't have to know what to expect. You will know what the right decissions are, wearing that Ring. You will know it with your soul.”

“Okay, running on instinct then.” I sigh, but also let out a nervous chuckle. “I can do that... Probably.”

They laugh again. “You're a fun human to talk with. Now, lets look at these candles, shall we?” They gently lay their hands on my shoulders to turn me towards our candles. “You are related to both other bearers of the Rings. Which wasn't necessary per se, but it is quite convenient. Your powers of enhancement... You can cast them on both your relatives. Through a ritual that you have to perform soon after accepting your Rings, you will be able to balance yourselves out. Your powers will all three get on the same level. Solomon will gain a little more, James will lose some of his, so he becomes less volatile.”

“Is that okay to do?” I ask worried.

“Yes.” They confirm. “Solomon probably allready knows this, being the curious sorcerer that he is. He will know what I'm telling you is truth. Once you are all three balanced, your flames here on your candles will become steady.”

“What?!” I whisper. Will I become immortal? I don't know if I want that!

“Until you give your Ring back to me, yes. It will be a side-effect from Solomons immortality.” They answer the question I didn't ask. “You can always decide to give this Ring back to me after you accepted it. But if you decide to do that, the ring of balance that you three form, will be broken again. Making both Solomon and James mortal as well.”

“Even Solomon? But wasn't he...”

“He was and is, until you have performed the ritual. It will connect the three of you, making you equal, like I said. So... Before you decide, talk with them about it.”

“Well duh!” I almost shout. “I'm not going to decide for them when they should die!”

“Perfect. That's what I wanted to hear.” They chuckle.

“Oh also...”I ask, looking suspiciously at where I see the glint of their eyes, which makes them chuckle again. “Will you burn down our soulcandles, when I give you the ring back?” Seems like a legit question, right? I'm not taking risks with my own soul, but definitely not if I'm also responsible for James and Solomons souls as well!

“I'm not a demon, Leila.” They tell me sternly. “I'm not interested in destroying souls. Unless you ruined it, or a demon destroys your soul, it will remain after your death and be available for rebirth, if you so wish. That rule remains for everyone. So also for you three.”

I nod. That's good to know. I don't like to be tricked into losing my soul.

“I'm looking forward to seeing three steady flames appear on your candles. It will be like the cycle is completed.” They say mysteriously. I look at them curiously, but they don't explain themselves further. Instead they continue with. “I'll be sure to bring a snack on the day you perform your ritual. Perhaps some Human World popcorn, for the occasion.”

I look at them as if to see if they're crazy. They make it sound as if this is all some fun entertainment to them.

“Maybe that's true, Leila.” They say again, as if they could read my mind. Maybe they can? “I don't have much to entertain me, being who I am. I can't make a lot of friends. It's a lonely life, I lead. But it is who I am. And someone had to be me, don't you agree? I was chosen to be me. I don't feel sorry for myself. But it is true that I like to have people to talk to. Even if only occasionally.”

“Like Solomon? He says you are friends. But you did leave an awful message for him...”

“Him and me, we have a long history.”

“Can I know more about it?”

“It started out the day I came to his door, demanding from him to give me his soul. As I couldn't claim it anymore, because he made it immortal, being the curious, irresponsible, messy sorcerer he was in his younger years. He could only give it to me willingly. He said that I could claim his soul, the day I could defeat him in a game...”

“But you never could, because he wears the Ring of Wisdom.” I smile. My grandfather was a clever one.

“Right. I suppose I fell for that one, didn't I? Anyway, over time, I started to feel he was worthy of his Ring. My challenges became less serious. I didn't really wanted to claim the soul of the man who I could have real conversations with. Not anymore. Of course I always pretended to, I suspect that he liked that about me...”

“Yeah, he can be weird like that...”

“I just don't understand why he tried to poison me...” They let out a sad sigh.

“Huh?”

“One day I came over for a game and a talk. He was cooking and invited me for dinner...”

“Uh-oh...” I shiver.

They nod. “It was awful. I don't understand why he did that. So ever since then, I feel a grudge against him... I can't let people think they don't have to take me seriously. I deserve respect, Leila.”

“You know that Solomon actually thinks of himself as a good cook, right?” I tell them.

“That can't be true? Surely he puts poison in that food...”

“Yeah, that's what everybody thinks.” I nod. “I think I'm the only one in his life that tells him straight that I don't like his cooking. I mean, there's being polite... And there's Solomons cooking.” I gesture with my hands as if they're scales. “I don't feel like I have to be polite about that stuff.” I smirk and they laugh.

“I keep that in mind for the future. But for now... It is time for you to return to your world.” They say and it is almost like they feel a bit dissapointed about that. “Try to remember what I told you: Trust yourself, Leila and the Ring of Souls will serve you well. Until we meet again, Leila. May you be blessed with joy and good fortune.”

I nod. “Thank you. I will do my best.”

I wake up in a bed. I'm sure I wasn't in a bed before. Before I open my eyes, I hear people talking in the room. I feel Belphegor wrapped around me from one side. Has he been crying? No, that can't be right. Shado lies on my stomach. He starts purring as he is the first to notice me coming to my senses, putting new effort in his massages. (Welcome back, my Leila.) He says, and I smile. Then I hear voices: James and Satan. Calling my name. They're sitting on my other side, on the edge of the bed.

“Leila! Leila!”

I feel Belphegor move, holding me tighter and hovering over me. He starts to kiss me as I open my eyes. “There you are. “ He whispers with a strange croaky voice. “I'm glad you're back.”

He's being pushed away by Asmodeus who practially lies on top of me to check if I'm really there. He also starts kissing me and he isn't pulled off of me immediately by Belphegor and Satan, which shows how worried they were. Too worried to make drama around me now. Was I talking to the Angel of Death that long?

I try to sit up and practically everyone tries to help me with that, which is extremely impractical. So I swat everyone away and sit up by myself. Satan pulls me against him, as he sits against the headboard. Giving me kisses on all the places he can reach from there. Belphegor has his arms wrapped around me and rests his head against my belly after a bit of competition with Shado. Shado wasn't making room for him on my lap for a change. I chuckle and pet them both.

I look at my hand where the Night Dagger went through. The dagger is gone, instead I'm clutching something in my hand, that has a strong forcefield around it. Did I maintain that even in my sleep? Or is it coming from the Ring in my hand? Nobody other than me is supposed to touch it. Yeah, it must be coming from the Ring. I nod at my hand. Not noticing that everyone stares at me worried. I haven't said a word yet, I only have made strange reactions.

“Who did you talk to?” James asks me. When I look at him, I see his face is tense.

I smile at him. “Don't worry, James. I still have all my wits about me.” I hear they all let out a collective sigh of relief and I giggle.

“Good on ya! We can't have ya losin' your memory as well!” Mammon shouts and I grin at him. I guess he just said what they all were thinking.

“To answer your question, James.” I start. “I talked to the Angel of Death.” That makes them all tense up again, but Solomon holds up his hand to indicate they should let me finish talking. “They gave me something...” I open my hand and look at the Ring of Souls.

I pick it up with the fingers of my other hand. The forcefield shifts with it to my other hand. I'm looking at my hand, that is supposed to be wounded, in surprise. Holding it up in the light. Where is the cut?

“The cut disappeared together with the Night Dagger.” Satan says, as if he knows what I'm thinking. He continues by kissing my supposedly hurt shoulder. “So did the cut in your shoulder. It wasn't deep. A forcefield appeared around the Night Dagger, as if it stopped the thrust.” Then he continues curiously. “What did they give you, Leila?”

I hold up the ring now. Taking a good look at it for the first time. It looks like a simple silver band. With a tiny gemstone in the middle of it. I can't really tell what sort of gem it is. It's as simple as the Ring of Wisdom. I guess it doesn't need to be fancy. I'm actually glad that it's not, as I see Mammon looking at it with a bit more interest than I want him to. Asmodeus notices too and pulls him away by the ear, under loud complaints. I think I hear him say to Mammon something about killing him if he ever tries to steal something from me. Since when is Asmodeus so aggressive? But everyone laughs and the tension is broken.

“It's the Ring of Souls.” I explain. Mostly to Solomon and James. “They chose me to wear it. We have to perform a ritual soon, they said. To balance out our powers, making us equals.”

“What kind of ritual?”

“Do you trust the word of the Reaper?

“Don't put it on, Leila!”

A lot of shouting errupt again and I roll my eyes.

“I've heard of that ritual.” Solomon says to me and James, ignoring everyones shouting. “An enhancement ritual. Yes, it should make all three bearers of the Rings equal. And only the one who wears the Ring of Souls can initiate it... But I thought it was just a story, because nobody has ever seen the Ring of Souls before.”

“I do it only if you guys want to participate.” I say, still ignoring all the protests of our demons. “They wanted us to do it. The Rings are supposed to be balanced out, once they've all been given to worthy humans. But its not that they don't work without the ritual.”

“But it will help me get my powers under control, right?” James asks and I nod. “Now they're only suppressed. Balancing us will make them accessible for me in a safe way, right?”

“Yes.”Solomon nods. “Yes, it should. You gain my control over magic, possibly I gain more power, because your powers seem to exceed mine, right now.”

“Yes, that's what they told me as well. I have to tell you something first though, before I accept this ring.” I look sternly at all our demons. “I will accept it and you can't stop me, by the way. When we have performed the ritual, James and I gain Solomons immortality...” Enthousiast shouts from all our demons. “...until I decide to give my Ring back to the Angel of Death. All three of us will become mortal again, when I do.”

“Canceling my misfired spell from long, long ago?” Solomon laughs as if he's not too worried about that. “Interesting. So we all gain some abilities from each other? Very interesting!”

“You don't mind that?” James asks him surprised. “The chance of losing your immortality?”

“I'm sure Leila will discuss an important matter like that with us first, before deciding to return the Ring of Souls.” Solomon answers dryly.

“Obviously.” I say, holding out my hand where the cut should have been.

Belphegor lies on his back now to have a good view when I slide the ring on my middle finger. I felt that was the place it should be and it fits. The faint glowing forcefield that surrounded it spreads over my body and Belphegor and Satan have to let me go. Only Shado remains on my lap, for some reason. I try to control it. Make it a part of me, like my own forcefield ability. It's surprisingly easy. It is like the Ring accepts me as worthy. What would have happened if I wasn't? No, I can't think about that. I have to trust myself.

Soon I feel the rings powers merged with mine. When I look at the gem, I see it changing colors, depending on who is near me. I can easily sense their angel cores. Or, as it turns out, their souls. I can see their shine like demons and angels can? But unlike them who can only see the shine of human souls, I see the shine of demons and angels too. I hold my hand near Satan: It shines with an emerald glow. I always knew he has a real soul! I laugh happily at him as he raises his eyebrows. I hold my hand near James: The Ring shines in a soft golden glow. Much like mine, but different. This is so cool!

“LOL. Okay... So what are you doing now?” Leviathan asks. “Because you look like a lunatic, right now. FYI.” He gets smacked on the head by Mammon. But he doesn't disagree.

“You can't see it?” I ask them. “The gem shines and changes, depending on who I'm holding it close to.”

“Nah, we ain't seein' that.” Mammon says. “Just a piece of cheap glass to us.”

“Cool.” I say smiling. “So only me then! So cool! They told me I would be even faster in finding someones soul and bring it to the surface.”

“And your forcefield ability is stronger now as well.” Lucifer says. He gestures to Belphegor and Satan, who still can't seem to get close to me again. “You might want to let them in...”

“Oh! Of course.” I pull them both through into my new forcefield for a hug together with James. They look triumphantly to the rest of their brothers, who want to hug now as well. Until I drop it all together and I'm being burried under a pile of laughing demons.

“Guys.” Solomon says, laughing. “They're not immortal yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously I was going to give a Ring to Leila as well.  
> I hope you liked the twist. And the extra twist.  
> Be prepared to be twisted some more in the coming chapters, ahaha!
> 
> Prologue: Why not me (It's not a song)  
> Artist: Within Temptation


	10. The Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You didn't think you could get away with it, now did you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First half contains spoilers from Hard lesson.  
> Scroll down real fast to James POV if you don't want to read the spoilers ;)

**Leila POV**

When Diavolo heard about the news that Lucifer was recovered from his memory loss the moment James had made the Ring of Light his own, he came over immediately.  
Not that Lucifer was happy to see him... No.  
We're all gathered in the common room and tell him the story of what happened. Well... Lucifer is just glaring at Diavolo, as everyone else tells the story. Diavolo is thrilled to hear that I had recieved the third Ring. He says he always thought it was a myth. That the Three Rings were actually just two rings. I don't really understand why he should be so happy. It's not like he has anything to do with it? Then he proceeds to say that he will scedule an event at his Castle, where Solomon, James and I can perform the ritual to balance the Rings and our powers. And have a party afterwards. Ugh... Do we really have to make a fuss about it?

He's rubbing his hands in excitement. “I'm really happy that everything worked out in the end!” He's his jovial self again. But I'm glaring at him as well. Suddenly he seems to realize that not everyone around him is so happy with the events from the past few days. Lucifer losing his memory, me getting stabbed. It could have all be prevented, if he weren't such a stubborn old demon! Not to mention that he used Barbatos to spy on me and him treating me like his human toy for his plans since the day I arrived in this world.  
“Right...” He hangs his shoulders a bit and his face falls. “You see, Lucifer, what it comes down to is that... I just didn't want to worry you over nothing! Sure, I knew James was the cause of the destruction... But I didn't want to give you the feeling you had to choose between James and everything else. I thought that we could change the course of events in time, before I had to worry you about it...”

“And how, do you figure, was that going to happen?” Lucifer keeps glaring arrogant at him. “You know that under normal circumstances, I'm not the kind of demon that asks for pacts. Not even from humans I love.”

“Right, yes.” Diavolo nods. “I was actually planning on telling you everything after Barbatos told me that Leila had made the sixth pact... I should have told you sooner. Keeping it for myself was a mistake...”

“You BET you made a mistake.” Lucifers voice gives everyone in the room chills. “I lost my **memory**!”

Belphegor lies with his head on my lap, like usual, with Shado on his stomach. I run my hand through his hair as we listen to the scolding Lucifer starts giving Diavolo. “Hmm, you know... It seems like when Lucifers memory came back, all his pride, arrogance and scary intensity returned along with it...”

Satan, who has wrapped his arm around me as I lean against him like usual, nods. “Yeah. I mean even Lord Diavolo is no match for him now, hm? Considering how angry he is. To think we're actually watching Diavolo getting told off by Lucifer. It's pretty funny. Maybe I should get a picture of this?”

“You never grow up, do you?” I mumble and he snickers quietly. “Though in this case, you can make a video of it, for all I care.” And I kiss him on the cheek. They both grin wickedly, taking out their DDD's discretely.

Solomon, who sits in the chair next to where we're sitting, says. “Well, I can't say I don't understand why Lucifer is angry. I'm angry too. I almost lost Leila because of Diavolo being so stubborn. I told him to tell all of you right away, so that completing your Ring would go smoother. But he wouldn't listen.”

“You seem awfully calm considering the circumstances, Solomon. Haven't you considered that you might be the next name on Lucifer's list of people to ream out?” Simeon whispers to him, while sipping his tea.

Solomon smirks. “Hm? Me?”

“Don't forget that you pressed James to stab Lucifer with the Night Dagger.”

“Well I wouldn't say pressed... I just said that it was the only way. And it was, until you came back with the Ring of Light.” He looks at Simeon sternly. “Had you told me the Ring of Light still existed, I would have never suggested it and risking Leila hating me.”

“I don't hate you, Solomon.” I tell him. “But it is definitely something I'm angry about.”

“I suppose it's true I should have told you that I was trying to find it for James.” Simeon agrees. “But you still suggested murdering Lucifer.”

“I mean, I couldn't think of any other solution. And Lucifer even told James to go for it.”

“You think way too nonchalant about the situation, Solomon.” Simeon shakes his head with a sigh.

Solomon shakes his head in denial. “I actually don't. I almost lost the most important person in my life. So I would want to ask you, Simeon, that next time something like this occurs, we don't keep possible solutions a secret for each other. A lot of hurt could have been prevented, if we all had put our cards on the table sooner.” He sighs. “I regret it, that I didn't.”

“Hey... Diavolo! Are you listening to me or what?” We suddenly hear Lucifer gruffly say. Diavolo was distracted by Solomon and Simeons conversation for a moment during Lucifers scolding, – which, truth be told, can go on forever. – and Lucifer is not having that from him, right now.

“Lucifer...” Diavolo looks up surprised and then starts smiling.

“Yeah?”

“The way you're talking now... I've never heard you sound so rough...”

“What?!”

Asmodeus whispers, as he's also secretly taking pictures, like most of the brothers. “You know, he does have a point. Lucifer is still talking like he did during his amnesia.”

“Yep, once you get into the habit of talking a certain way, it's hard to break out of it.” Beelzebub nods, while emptying the cookie jar. I opened it for him to keep him happy.

“It's a refreshing change of pace.” Belphegor yawns and stretches and then snuggles closer to me again. “But Lord Diavolo picked a really bad time to say that.”

Diavolo in the meantime, is enthousiastly telling Lucifer how much he likes it that he talks to him like that. Encouraging him to do it more often from now on. Lucifer is arrogantly glaring at him, his arms crossed.

Diavolo, realising that he picked the wrong moment to discuss this, suddenly changes the subject. “Oh, I almost forgot! I know it can't make up for what had happened, but I wanted to express to you how sorry I am, so I got a present for you.” He picks up a wrapped up rectangle shaped package and gives it to Lucifer. “Look, it's a picture from the unknown Devildom artist John Smith... 'Lady Jane and the Apple'... His masterpiece!”

Lucifer accepts the package in surprise. “Did you say, Lady Jane?”

“Yes, I know how much you wanted to have this. Please, take it... It's yours now.”

“If you insist.” Lucifer blushes a little about the gesture. Then he moves to find a suitable place to hang it up.

“I dunno what the big deal is about that painting.” Mammon was quick to investigate the picture, then he disappointed turns away. “It's not worth that much.”

“Oh, but I get it!” Leviathan swoons. “When you truly a fan of something, you love it in ways that no one else understands!”

“Well. It looks as if you have things pretty much wrapped up here.” Solomon stands up and squeezes my shoulder. “I'm going to go ahead and take off. Let me know when you want to hold that event, Diavolo. I will do my research about the ritual, though it is Leila who has to initiate it.”

“Let me know what I need to know, Solomon.” I tell him and he nods, understanding my meaning. No more dangerous secrets between us.

He's allready almost at the door as we suddenly hear Lucifer stop him in his most threatening voice. “Solomon?”

The sound of it startles him and I'm surprised by that. I never seen Solomon startled or phazed by anything. He turns around, his face the usual neutral expression. “Yes?”

“Where do you think you're going? I still need to have a talk with you... a very long talk.”

“Do you really?” Solomon sighs. “Well, I guess you do...”

Satan grins wickedly. “I have a feeling that there are going to be quite a few interesting ornaments hanging from the ceiling tonight.”

“Yeah...” Belphegor expression matches Satans. “It's going to look like a sick version of Christmas around here.”

Mammon rubs his hands, also with a wicked grin. “Y'know, I bet you could get a lotta money leakin' this to the RAD Newspaper...”

I laugh with them. Even though I feel a bit sorry for Solomon, I'm not at all against the idea that we soon have Lord Diavolo hanging upside down from the ceiling. I might take a picture myself...

**House of Lamentation (9)**

> **Leila:** Now THIS is unprecedented!  
> **Leila:** (Picture of Lord Diavolo and Solomon hanging upside down from the ceiling)  
< **Asmodeus: (Cheering-Demon sticker)**  
> **James:** Awesome picture, Leila!  
< **Belphegor: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
< **Beelzebub: (Cheering-Demon sticker)**  
< **Satan: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
< **Asmodeus:** Wow, I can't believe Lucifer actually strung them up by their feet!  
< **Mammon: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
< **Mammon:** Yeah, Lord Diavolo and Solomon hanging upside down next to each other? That's crazy!  
< **Leviathan:** That would make an amazing Devilgram photo, Leila!  
< **Leviathan: (Cheering-Demon sticker)**  
> **James: (Party-Demon sticker)**  
> **Leila:** Forget it. This is for our eyes only.  
< **Mammon:** Aww c'mon, human!  
> **Leila:** If I see any of you make a fool of Solomon on Devilgram, I'll curse all seven of you. Much worse than donkey ears!  
> **Leila: (Threatening-Demon sticker)**  
< **Asmodeus:** She'll do it. You better not get me cursed!  
< **Belphegor:** Regardless, this is sort of a cause for celebration, huh?  
< **Satan:** Definitely!  
< **Beelzebub:** I go see what's in stock for a feast.  
< **Mammon:** Yo, Lucifer!  
< **Mammon:** Ya wouldn't let Leila curse us, if I post a picture like this on Devilgram, right?  
< **Lucifer:** You better listen to her, or get cursed.  
< **Mammon:** Aw, seriously?  
< **Satan:** I guess we now know who the real head of this household is.  
< **Lucifer: (Laughing-Demon sticker)** On this matter: yes.

**James POV**

“I feel I failed you as a guardian angel...” Simeon sighs.

It's a couple days later.  
We're standing in the garden of the Demon Lord's Castle. Me and Leila, Solomon, Simeon and Luke. The exchange student group. Leila didn't want to go inside yet as the Castle is filling up with high profile demons. The Elite and the Nobility is gathering for the ritual-event that we will be performing soon. And there are a lot of them.  
Leila told Lord Diavolo countless times that the ritual didn't need an audience. That she prefered to do it in private. But as per usual, Lord Diavolo does what he wants. Saying it would be good for us to get familiar with the important demons of the Devildom. Make connections that last and all that nonsense. Both Leila and I aren't eager to make more pacts, per se. We're not power hungry. The Three Rings will allready give us incredible power, right? But explaining that to the most powerful demon in the whole entire Devildom is like explaining that to an alien. They just don't understand humans like us.  
So, now she is super nervous for performing the ritual under the eyes of everybody. And she prefers to not face any demon yet. Not even ours.

“When I saw you on that bed, Leila. The dagger protruding from your shoulder, it sent shivers down my spine. I'm really sorry.”

“It wasn't your fault, Simeon.” She hugs him. “I still blame Diavolo. And me getting stabbed, earned me the Ring of Souls. And you found the Ring of Light for James. He will be safe now, so I have to thank you for giving it to him.”

He smiles his gentle smile and kisses her on the forehead. “You're very welcome!”

“So what happened in the end with the Ring? By which I mean James chaotic connection with all Three Worlds.” Luke is still worried.

“Don't worry, Luke.” Solomon squeezes his shoulder, his face in his usual satisfied expression. “It seems that it has stabilized, thanks to the power of the Ring of Light. It won't be causing any random destructive phenomena.”

“And Leila doesn't have to complete her own Ring anymore?”

“I don't think so.” She hugs Luke now. “I'm actually relieved, you know. I knew that asking me to save the Three Worlds would be a valid reason to accept a pact with Lucifer. But under normal circumstances, I know he would never ask me. So that pact would still feel forced for the both of us.”

“Hmhm...” Solomon nods at her, thinking. “Maybe. Anyway, James... You, wearing one of the Three Rings, means that you now officially rank alongside me and Leila as one of the most powerful Human World sorcerers in existence.” He continues with a friendly smile as he now squeezes my shoulder.

“Be honest, Solomon.” Luke teases him. “That makes you a little jealous, doesn't it?”

“Not at all.” He denies. “I'm genuinly happy to have a new sorcerer. Someone Leila and I can stand alongside. After all, it should calm the turmoil in the Human World.”

“It makes me happy too.” She hugs me and stays like that. “Because I'm terrified to become immortal. At least I would share that with James and Solomon. My family.”

“You get used to it, Leila.” Solomon laughs. “Before you know it, hundreds of years will have passed.”

“Ugh...” She complains. “Don't say it, like that's not super weird.”

We all laugh. But she is kind of right.

“I understand that Lucifers memory have completely returned as well. So I suppose that everything did work out well in the end.” Simeon smiles.

“Uh... I wouldn't say that. Lucifer made sure to punish me...” Solomon rubs his head, as if it still hurts from hanging upside down. “And let me tell you, he showed no mercy. For the first time, I think I actually undestand how Mammon feels.”

“Ahahaha!” Simeon laughs out loud and Luke hides his snicker behind his hands. “Diavolo told me the same thing.”

“I can't believe that Lucifer actually punished DIAVOLO!” Luke giggles.

“If you promise to keep it between us, Luke...” Leila whispers conspiratorially to him. “I can show you the proof.” She takes out her DDD. “See? Lucifer hung Diavolo and Solomon upside down from the ceiling.” Luke burst out laughing fully now, not even trying to hide it.

“I'm surprised that's not all over Devilgram by now.” Simeon laughs again. “If all those brothers were present, than surely one of them would put a picture of that online?”

“No, they wouldn't.” I tell him, laughing. “They're scared for the curse Leila promised them all, if one of them would dare make a fool of Solomon online.”

“I appreciate that.” Solomon smirks, then gets a serious expression on his face as he turns to me. “Anyway, James. You're going to have to learn how to use your great power. Knowing you, you will master it in no-time and then you'll use it for good. Which brings me to my point. James, I'd like to take you on as my apprentice, alongside Leila.”

“I can't stay Leila's apprentice?”

“You can, but soon she will move on to study for herself for a while.”

“I am?” She asks him surprised. “Is that part of the sorcerer training?”

“Not necessarily, no.” Solomon says mysteriously. “But I want you to. I have this feeling that it will be good for you. It will only be for a little while. To see how you manage by yourself. And while you do that, I will have plenty of time to tutor James, won't I?”

“I guess You are better of with Solomon as a tutor now, James.” She encourages me. “Since I'm still an apprentice myself.”

“I suppose...” I say a little sad. I really did like Leila tutoring me. But if it's a good practice for her to be on her own for a while, than that's what I want for her. I want her to stop sacrificing everything, for everyone around her and do things for herself for a while. Maybe that's what Solomon is thinking too?

“Now, I want you two to listen carefully.” Solomon continues. “The way I see it, it's my duty to ensure the protection of the Human World. I have been its protector for millenia as the one they call 'Solomon the Wise'. No matter what the future holds, I'll do whatever I can to protect humanity. Always and without hesitation. I think I have made that clear before...” He looks determined. No regret in his eyes from what happened earlier and I guess I can understand it from his point of view.  
He continues. “I've been training Leila to do that as well. And I will be training you the same, James. But the events from a couple days ago, were proof that I can't always make the decissions alone. I hurt you two, by keeping you out of the loop and forced my decission upon you. Someday I'll probably encounter another situation like the one we faced. Where the right course of action is hard to judge. When that time comes, I'd like to have both of you there alongside me. So we can puzzle over it and work out what to do, as partners.”

“Of course!” I smile. Wow, equal to Solomon, who would have thought? Not me, a year ago!

“Great! I knew you would say yes.” Solomon smiles genuinly at both of us. “We look forward to have another sorcerer at our side, right Leila?”

“So... Um...” Luke suddenly says. “Can I see your rings? I heard so much about it, but never actually seen all of them. Only the Ring of Light. Long, long ago...”

“Sure Luke.” Leila sticks out her hand and so are Solomon and I.

Luke takes our hands one by one to see the rings. “So, Solomons is made out of simple brass...”

“Wisdom doesn't need to show on the outside, Luke.” Simeon smiles.

He nods and takes my hand. “But James ring is made out of gold and it looks intricate...”

“It's a symbol of the visible around us.” Simeon explains.

“It was supposed to be lost in the carnage of the Celestial War. Aquiring it couldn't have been easy, Simeon.” Solomon looks at my ring as well, curiously.

“Well, Michael always did love Lucifer. They were friends for the longest time after all. He would never allow this ring to be lost.” Simeon smiles. “I knew he had to be keeping it safe somewhere, so I went up to the Celestial Realm to borrow it from him.”

“Borrow, hm?” Solomon smirks at him. “I'm surprised that he was willing to part with it... Maybe you took it without permission?”

“Oh, I don't know about that...” Simeon chuckles and then shrugs. “James has permission to wear it, after all.”

Then Luke takes her hand and studies her ring. “Yours is silver and has a tiny gem...”

“I have to admit I don't know much about the Ring of Souls.” Simeon tells him and they both look at Leila now. “The Angel of Death wasn't really forthcoming about it and they never gave it away to a human before.”

“The gem shows me the shine of the soul of any being.” She says. “And I kinda like it that it's silver. It's pretty.”

“Really? You can see that with everyone?” Luke is still holding her hand, inspecting the gem. “I don't see anything.”

“That's because it's my responsibility to wear it.” She smiles. “It only works on me. But I still don't know what all of it means when I sense a soul and see it like this. I have to get used to it. I probably have to train myself in understanding.”

Solomon simply nods when he hears her say that. Is that why he lets her study for herself for a while? To get familiar with her ring? And that's why he will study with me to help me get familiar with my ring and my magic. Yeah, that makes sense.

“Ah, I see you are all here. Excellent.” Suddenly we hear someone. It is Barbatos. “The preparations for the ritual are complete. So, shall we get going?”


	11. In Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A party at the Demon Lord's Castle and some unexpected news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains spoilers from Lesson 39 but is also very different from the game.

**Leila POV**

I nod at Barbatos and he gives me an encouraging smile. He holds out his arm, for me to link mine in.

“Don't worry.” He says as if he knows how I feel about the whole thing. He probably does, through our connection. “It's only during the ritual that all eyes are on you and we are all here to protect you, Leila. You can always count on me. I promised you.”

“Thank you, Barbatos.”

He leads me into a ballroom. It's my first time in this room. All the others have been here before, during James first year in the Devildom. So I'm probably the only one that feels like a little scared bunny that's walked into a wolves den. All those demons in full fledged demonic forms. All those striking demon eyes, that look at you, as if they can see into your soul. And they probably can. They all definitely look at us like we're prey.  
I feel terrified, but I can't show them!

My eyes quickly look for the eyes of the demons that I love. There they are! Lucifers dark ruby eyes. Mammons skyblue eyes. Leviathans reptillian orange eyes, Satans beautiful emerald eyes, Asmodeus beautiful sunset eyes, Beelzebubs and Belphegors almost exactly the same purple and pink eyes. I sigh relieved. I'm not scared of their eyes anymore. They're beautiful to me and won't hypnotize me anymore. They still mesmerize me. That's different, you know? I smile at them.

Asmodeus kisses his fingertips and then blows that kiss to me. Telling me with that gesture that I look beautiful and flawless in front of all these demons. He has helped me earlier to look like this. He has brushed my lightbrown hair until it looked like spun gold. With some of his magic he had made sure that it will stay like that for the rest of the evening. He chose a very beautiful dress for me at Majolish earlier this week. In a soft pink color, of course. Because he knows I love that color. How I look now, it does give me an extra confidence boost and so does his extra encouragement. I give him a grateful smile.

In the middle of the ballroom is a magical circle drawn and I roll my eyes. One large circle that holds three smaller drawn into them so that they overlap each other. In the middle stands an altar and there are several candles placed on strategic spots. It does look official, but I told Diavolo so many times that the ritual is nothing fancy. This is unnecessary. Why is he making a show of it with those candles and that altar? Seriously.

Solomon next to me snickers as he sees it. “Looks like he wants to make an impression with this.”

“Yeah. The impression of being ridiculous. This is a Celestial ritual. Magical circles have nothing to do with it.” I whisper to him as I stand on one of the smaller circles, as apparently is the idea.

James snickers as well. “Well, It's Diavolo. He likes to do things special. It doesn't really matter.”

“I guess not.” I shrug. “He'll be disappointed though. I didn't prepare any special fake incantation.”

They both quietly laugh as Lord Diavolo jovially announces the expectations of the evening to his guests. He tells them that the Three Rings were designed to be worn by three humans to bring stability in the Three Worlds. – Okay, he is not wrong about that, he did his homework. – And how special it is that this ritual, that is designed for Celestial items, worn by humans, is held in the Devildom. He enthousiastly says that to him this is a sign that it is possible to bring balance in all Three Worlds. – Okay, I do admire that dream. Especially since it comes from a demon. – Then he stands with his guests and expectantly looks at the three of us. Just like the whole entire room does.  
Ugh. Let's get this over with...

I hold out both my hands for Solomon and James. They both hold my hands. I sense their powers and then connecting them with my own. Once I have stabilized that, I nod at them and they hold each others hand now too, so that we form a circle. We all have to reach for each others powers now. Once they managed that, I cast the enhancement spell that I have practiced so often with James. My body works as a sort of conduit now. Letting the powers of all three of us flow through it and distributing it again. Slowly but steady, we feel our powers being equalized. Making us stronger. Making James powers calmer.

When we're finished, I notice I must have cast my new forcefield around us. It shimmers around us and makes all three our rings glow slightly, like the Night Dagger did. Other than that, I don't really feel any different. I don't think I recieved more powers. At least not ones that I notice right away. James tells me, however, that he can sense his own very strongly now, as a part of himself, and feels he can easier access them. And Solomon tells me that he definitely feels that he gained more powers. So I guess the ritual worked? Like I said, it was nothing fancy.

Then the murmers of the guests start. Apparently the public isn't impressed by the ritual. They expected the roof being blown off, I guess. Looks of contempt are send our way and people start to gossip. Well whatever. I shrug. I never wanted to give a show anyway. Solomon chuckles and James grins. It's not like any of us care what demons think of us. Except the ones we care about. And they can definitely feel the changes we went through. Proud, they walk up to us. Sending glares to any of the elite that approaches us with a less than friendly expression.

Luckily the music starts and people start dancing and ignoring us again. I see Lord Diavolo making a beeline towards us and a feeling of panic comes up. This time I know he's going to ask me to dance. And he won't be really asking it.

“Hello there, Leila.” See? I knew it. Satan and Belphegor stand protectively on each side of me, but Diavolo ignores them. “I'm so glad you performed the ritual in the presence of my court. It will strengthen the bonds between our worlds...” He chuckles. “Well, eventually...” I laugh too. So he did notice that the ritual itself was less than impressive. “Have you and James fully recovered? I'm sincerely sorry that I didn't put all the cards on the table from the beginning.” He looks into our eyes one by one, genuinly. I think he tells the truth.

“I feel good, yes.” I nod.

“Well, I'm glad to hear it.” He smiles brightly. “It looks like the Ring has stabilized as well.” He looks at Solomon for confirmation and then to James. “I'm glad you have your powers stabilized, James. I was pretty shocked when I heard the news that we weren't able to use the Night Dagger, and the solution to it. I'm very glad, it didn't come that far...” He would have sacrificed Lucifer too, for the well-being of the Devildom. I guess I can understand from his point of view, but I kinda don't... “I was so surprised to hear that the Ring of Light was recovered. And even more surprised that the fabled Ring of Souls was earned by you, Leila. You saved Lucifer... and the entire Devildom as well.”

“Well, I did it mostly for James and Lucifer...” I start and James gives me a side-hug, smiling.

Diavolo continues, not listening. “ Speaking on behalf of the Devildom, I want to thank you. From the bottom of my heart.” He kisses my hand and my face gets instant red. What the hell?! Our demons around us start making their threatening growls and Diavolo chuckles when he hears it. Unconcerned he continues. “Now, this party is in honor of our humans... and I want you all enjoy every minute of it!” Then he walks away again, to make rounds with his court.

I sigh in relief. I guess I don't have to dance with him.

**During the ball, held in the Demon Lord's Castle, in honor of the three humans...**

Barbatos takes Simeon, Lucifer and Solomon apart to have a talk with them. As he looks at his young mistress, talking happily with her mates, her demons and her James, an expression of worry crosses his usual solemn features for a moment.

“I have a request.” He starts.

Both Simeon and Solomon just look at him. Almost like they know. Like Barbatos, they do both posess the power of foreboding. Lucifer watches and decides to wait and listen.

“I want my young mistress out of the Devildom, as soon as possible. But in a way, so that it looks like she's moving on to new studies.” He looks at Simeon. “Preferably in the Celestial Realm.”

“Can I ask what this is about?” Lucifer frowns. “She won't abandon James and her mates just like that.”

“Yes, let me explain.” Barbatos sighs, as he sees his young mistress being swept away for a dance by his Lord. He also sees her expression of panic when he does. “You see... My Lord seems to have decided he wants my young mistress as one of his mates...”

Lucifer curses quietly.

“Indeed. Now that she is immortal, and very powerful, he hopes to let her birth a few nephilim. With himself as the father. They will be children with the genes of humans, angels and demons.” He looks at the three shocked faces around him. “To him, they would become symbols for the unity of the Three Worlds.”

“Nephilim? A hybrid between human and demon?” Lucifer whispers, to make sure nobody is eavesdropping on this conversation. “That's forbidden.”

“Well, it was forbidden. I recently found out my Lord made it legal for her to be the mother. She became immortal today, which makes her equal to demons in a way. So in essence, she is now the only human female allowed to breed with.”

“I prefer you didn't talk about my granddaughter in that way.” Solomon sounds extremely irritated, but also worried. He had sensed that she had to leave the Devildom and study for herself, without him, but he couldn't know this was the reason. “Has he gone insane? She is not his plaything to make decissions over! She's a human, not something to 'breed' with!” He hisses furiously.

“It were not my words, Solomon. My Lord means her no harm. He may even have feelings similar to love for her.” Barbatos sighs. “But he also won't give her the choice, were she to stay here for much longer. And then there's another complication.”

“What is it?” There's nothing left of Solomons usual calm demeanor.

Barbatos nods at him in understanding. “It is very likely, that she is allready pregnant with one of her mates... I'm convinced she is, but to be sure, you should test her tonight.” He hands Lucifer a Devildom pregnancy test. “She isn't aware of it, yet. It's in a very early state, only a week or two, but still...”

Lucifer growls. “What?” He looks at the test in his hand, then discretely hides it in his coat. He will test her tonight. Devildom bloodtests don't lie. But he is very worried for the outcome. And he is not the only one. Both Solomon and Simeon look very surprised and worried.

“Yes. When she just arrived down here, I have seen that she will birth a few nephilim in the future. One is coming very soon. That is how my Lord got the idea, I'm afraid. Now as you know, by law, all mates need to withdraw from the relationship with a female, if the Prince wants her for his harem. To ensure all offspring is of royal blood. As long as she doesn't officially have children with any of them, Belphegor and Satan will have to withdraw when he takes her as his mate.”

“Dammit! What is he thinking?” Lucifer curses. “Belphie and Satan are never going to just accept that...”

“I don't expect they would.” Barbatos nods. “But now that she's most likely allready pregnant with one of them, they will be the father of that child when it is born. From that moment on, they don't have to withdraw from the relationship, as is the law. My Lord can still request to have a child with her, but he can't claim her as his mate.”

“He shouldn't be able to claim her at all. She's a human, not a demon!” Solomon says, furiously.

“I agree, but it seems that my Lord sees it differently. However: If this child is safely born, there will not be much complications, between the different parties and the decissions about having more nephilim, and with who, will be all hers.” Barbatos turns to Simeon who was listening quietly with a frown of worry on his face. “Best would be, if she takes up studying in the Celestial Realm. To protect herself and her unborn child. He can't reach out to her when she's up there. She will also be able to learn more techniques to ward of my Lords advances...”

“Are you losing your loyalty to Diavolo?” Solomon wants to know, suspiciously. “Why are you warning us like this?”

“I'm loyal to them both. I'm loyal to you too, Solomon. And I know that you and Leila would feel betrayed by me again, if I wouldn't protect her from this, like I promised her.” Barbatos is looking each of them sternly in their eyes. “It is dangerous for her, to be in a sexual relationship with a demon like him, without a pact. And he can't make a pact with her, or any human, being the future King. Still he wants to have her, like most demons in the Devildom want her, when they get a sense of her powers. He still doesn't understand how the human mind works with these delicate subjects. He sees her as his pretty shiny trinket to do with as he likes. Tonights ritual party is proof of that. She told him several times that it was unnecessary, that she didn't want it... Until he learns to truly respect her, I have to protect her from him. In any way I can think of.”

“I will make arrangements with the Celestial Realm first thing tomorrow.” Simeon suddenly says determined. “And I will tell Luke to dance with Leila tonight. None of the full fledged demons here will pick a fight with a young angel like him, or they make themselves look ridiculous...” After having said this he immediately, but in his calm manner, makes his way to Luke.

“That will prevent some arguments with her mates and Diavolo.” Solomon nods as he watches him walk away. “I will start James apprentice training in the Human World, as soon as Leila leaves the Devildom for the Celestial Realm. It will look like this is planned for both their education, instead of an escape.”

“I will make the arrangements to terminate the exchange program for this year.” Lucifer also springs into action. “My brothers and James are not going to like this, but it's not going to be forever, after all.”

**Leila POV**

_Forgive, sounds good_  
_Forget, I'm not sure I could_  
_They say time heals everything_  
_But I'm still waiting_  
_***_

“Heeey, my humans!” Mammon throws his arms around James and my shoulders, giving us both a hug. “How's it hangin'? How'dya like this party in your honor, eh?” He gestures around as if he personally put it all together. James snickers.

“I set some food aside for you, James.” Beelzebub is beaming, while stuffing his face with the food he brought for James.

“Thank you, Beel.” He gives him a kiss, then accepts the huge plate loaded with all sorts of Devildom food. “You don't mind if I share it with the others, right?”

Beelzebub shakes his head, allready munching from the plate. I quickly grab something too, before it's gone within minutes!

“Hey! Don't eat it all yourself, Beel!” Mammon quickly grabs the plate from James and goes around with it by his brothers, so they can take something too. Then he gives the plate with the leftovers to Beelzebub. “Here ya go.” James and I smile at each other. Mammon can't help caring for his brothers, even if he would deny it.

“You know, I can't help but thinking.” Leviathan sinks his teeth into something crawly, thoughtfully. It makes a tiny screech, just before it is bitten in half. I shiver, I can't get used to that. “Things didn't work out quite like I expected. Like, in anime and manga and stuff, when someone gets amnesia and their memory comes back, they don't remember anything from the time they had amnesia...”

“What?” Asmodeus looks up surprised from sharing a delicious piece of Devildom fruit with me. “Well, that's totally not what happened with Lucifer is it?” He continues trying to convince me to take it from between his lips with my own, but I quickly snatch it with my fingers instead, giggling. “I mean, he remembers everything that happened while he had amnesia clear as day.” He catches my hand and licks the juice from my fingers. Looking challengingly at Satan and Belphegor, as he does.

Leviathan shakes his head and rolls his eyes, watching that. “Yeah, he does, doesn't he? Eh, but then again, it's Lucifer, after all...”

Satan pulls me away from Asmodeus and wraps his arms around me. “Hm... You know, when he had amnesia, he had this innocent charm. Honestly, I would've preferred it if he'd just stayed that way forever.”

“Oh yeah... I second that.” Belphegor gives me a piece of his Devildom Lava cake. A wicked smirk appears on his face as he looks from Satan to James. “It's really too bad. If he'd stayed like that, we could've called a truce, right? No more pranks.”

I roll my eyes at that, but James says cheerfully. “Time to revive the Anti-Lucifer League!”

“Exactly.” Satan throws one arm around James shoulder with a matching wicked smirk. “You really know what's up, James.”

“We better figure out what our next prank is going to be and start hammering out a plan ASAP.” Belphegor also thows an arm around James.

“Ugh.” I complain. “No pranking Lucifer. I want some peace and quiet for a change.”

“If you're extra sweet tonight, I promise we won't do anything too nasty to him.” Belphegor teases, pulling me close and burrying his face in my neck under my hair. “Yet.” He whispers.

I sigh and push him away from me. “You will forever be children, I guess...” They both laugh at that.

Asmodeus takes this opportunity to take me in his arms again in his dashing way. Almost like a mini dance and I laugh at him. “Satan, Belphie.” He says with his melodious voice. “Why can't you just bring yourself to admitting how you really feel? You know you're actually relieved that he is back to normal and that everything ended well with everyone.”

They both shrug, grinning at each other. Everyone is joking and having fun. We are indeed all very glad it ended well.

Then suddenly Lord Diavolo stands right in front of me. Ah! I shouldn't have let my guard down!  
“Leila.” He takes my hand and pulls me in. My eyes go wide in surprise. “I was wondering, if perhaps I could have this dance with you?”  
Without waiting for my answer, he allready has wrapped an arm around my waist and is he dancing away with me. I can just hear Satans and Belphegors furious demonic growls, before I'm pulled into the dancing crowd.

“Oh! Um... I'm not really a good dancer...” I try to escape, but this demon has an even stronger grip than my own demons. Or he's just less gentle. It scares me a little. I want to free myself with my forcefield, but I can't make a scene like that in the middle of a party, right?

“Don't worry.” He says smiling, looking directly into my eyes. I can sense he still wants something from me. But unlike with most people, he's so hard to read. “I'm sure you'll do just fine.”  
We dance for a while in silence. I still really don't want to talk with him. I just don't trust this demon. But it doesn't seem to bother him. “You're a better dancer than you give yourself credit for.” He compliments me. “You seem to be at home in the Devildom culture...”

“Not really.” I tell him in all honesty. “I like some aspects down here. But this world is way too crazy.”

“You have a very long life now to get used to all of it.” He says with a soft voice. Weird. “Leila, I know I said this before, but I want you to know how truly grateful I am to you.”

“For?”

“For not giving up on Lucifer and James and the Three Worlds. You have done so many good things for the Devildom. You seem fragile, but you are very strong and powerful. My dream is to strengthen the bonds that unite the Three Worlds. And as the living embodyment of these bonds you and James are very important to me. Watching you gives me courage.”

“To do what?”

“My goal is to create a state of peace and harmony between the Three Worlds.”

“Yeah, I heard. That is a real noble goal, for a demon.” I look at him with curiosity in my eyes. It still baffles me that a furure Demon King has dreams like that. “I'm sorry, that came out wrong...”

He smiles at me and he genuinly looks friendly. “Considering our history, it's clear this will be no easy task. However... In the future, regardless of what difficulties we face, I have a feeling I'll be able to look to you as my guiding light. Showing me the way forward.”

“Me? Just me? I think Solomon, James and I need to learn to do this balancing the Three Worlds thing, together.”

He laughs jovially. “Right. Of course. All three of you... I feel as though I can place my trust in you.”

“Thank you, Lord Diavolo. But I'm still not ready to forgive you or trust you in return. These things take time for me.”

He ignores that. “Leila...” Instead he pulls me really close now. Too close! Panicked, I look around for a rescue. He starts whispering in my ear. “From now on, I hope that you will stay by my...”

“Leila!” Oh thank goodness, it's Luke! “I call the next dance!” He skips cheerfully towards us and bows courteously for me, taking off his baret and everything. So cute.

“Ugh, really.” Lord Diavolo growls like the others when they're irritated. I've never hear him do that and it scares me a little. “You certainly are popular, aren't you?”

I reach my hand out for Luke to dance with him. He beams happily and takes it. “Come on. Leila, let's go!” He takes both my hands and wants to skip away with me in a happy dance.

“Leila!” Suddenly Diavolo grabs my wrist in a tight painful grip. It looks like he wants to pull me back.

“Ow, that hurts!” I get tears in my eyes. Why is he doing that? What does he want from me? He's freaking me out! It takes all my effort to not blast him away from me in the middle of his party. I can't make drama in public! That would be bad.

I see all the Avatars watching us now. They all look furious. They can probably feel my emotions. Satan looks ready to come fetch me. Or punch Lord Diavolo. One or the other. His eyes look dangerous, but Lucifer stops him. Even though he is also paying close attention.

Startled by the tears in my eyes Lord Diavolo says. “Oh dear! I'm sorry. Never mind, it's nothing. Go have fun, Leila. Have a wonderful evening.”

“Are you okay, Leila?” Luke whispers to me when we're on a large distance from Lord Diavolo. He's still watching me. “Simeon told me to go get you for a dance and keep you away from Diavolo for the rest of the night.”

“Really?” I smile grateful at him. “Thank you, Luke. He was really starting to freak me out. But I was a bit scared to make a scene.”

“Yeah... It's a bit strange how he is with you. But don't worry. I will stick with you. I promise.” He sounds so mature now. A real Guardian angel.

_***_  
_I'm not ready to make nice_  
_I'm not ready to back down_  
_I'm still mad as hell, and I don't have time_  
_To go 'round and 'round and 'round_  
_It's too late to make it right_  
_I probably wouldn't if I could_  
_'Cause I'm mad as hell_  
_Can't bring myself to do what it is_  
_You think I should_  
_***_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes... This is the direction I'm going with this story, I hope you like it! Hahaha!
> 
> I have started writing the next Part, named 'Leaving the Devildom'. Coming soon!
> 
> Song: Not Ready to Make Nice  
> Artist: The Chicks


End file.
